South Carolina Shocks Kentucky

By FITSNews || For the first time in the history of its men’s basketball program, the University of South Carolina has knocked off the No. 1 team in America.

Spurred by a superhuman effort from All-SEC guard Devan Downey, the un-ranked Gamecocks downed previously unbeaten and top-ranked Kentucky 68-62 Tuesday night before a frenzied crowd of 18,000 at the Colonial Life Center in Columbia, S.C.  Students mobbed the floor after the game, relishing a “mountaintop moment” in what has been up to this point an injury-plagued, lackluster season.

Prior to this win, USC was 0-7 all-time against top-ranked opponents, and this year’s squad seemed an unlikely candidate to break that skid.

The Gamecocks came into the game with an 11-8 record and a 3-4 mark in SEC play, including losses in three consecutive games.

Downey willed them to victory, though, finishing with 30 points – his fifth thirty-point game of the season and fourth in the last six games.

“I told you so! I told you so!” he screamed as fans mobbed him after the game.

During one stretch of the second half, the 5-foot 9-inch senior from Chester, S.C. was virtually unstoppable, spinning and throwing shots off the glass from literally every angle.  That run included a critical three-point play after USC was forced to inbound the ball with just two seconds on the shot clock.

Kentucky head coach John Calipari could be seen on the sidelines throwing his arms in the air in frustration as Downey nailed shot after clutch shot.

Kentucky came into the game with an unblemished 19-0 mark – a record achieved largely on the strength of three sensational freshman players, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe.

Cousins finished Tuesday night’s game with 27 points, while Wall added 19.

Wall also converted a three-point play with less than a minute to play that brought the Wildcats within a point, but two clutch free throws from USC senior Brandis Raley-Ross with 24 seconds left helped preserve USC’s victory.

Second-year USC head coach Darrin Horn is now 3-0 against the Wildcats since coming to Columbia from Western Kentucky.  The two teams will meet again on February 25 in Lexington, Kentucky.

PHOTOS

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Pics: Travis Bell, Sideline Carolina

UPDATE: Incidentally, we’re resisting the urge to blame Kentucky’s loss on Barack Obama, who spoke with the Wildcat players on a conference call earlier in the day.

UPDATE II: Sweet! Check out the ESPN love …