Sports

Gamecock Hoops Knocks Off No. 8 Texas A&M

SOUTH CAROLINA EARNS FIRST ROAD WIN OVER TOP TEN OPPONENT SINCE 2006 The University of South Carolina men’s basketball team earned its signature win of the 2015-16 season (so far) with an 81-78 victory over No. 8 Texas A&M on the Aggies’ home court in College Station, Texas. The Gamecocks…

SOUTH CAROLINA EARNS FIRST ROAD WIN OVER TOP TEN OPPONENT SINCE 2006

The University of South Carolina men’s basketball team earned its signature win of the 2015-16 season (so far) with an 81-78 victory over No. 8 Texas A&M on the Aggies’ home court in College Station, Texas.

The Gamecocks (20-3, 7-3 SEC) withstood a furious late rally from the Aggies (18-5, 7-3) – whose 8-1 run in the closing moments of the second half turned a nine-point South Carolina lead into a nail-biter that would go down to the final possession.

An 11-0 run had South Carolin in the driver’s seat – leading 79-70 with 2:24 to play.  But the Aggies – who have signature wins of their own this season over then-No. 10 Gonzaga, No. 13 Iowa State and No. 15 Baylor – fought back hard and were in a position to tie the game in the final seconds.

But a missed three-pointer (rebounded by freshman star P.J. Dozier) and a late Aggie turnover prevented head coach Billy Kennedy‘s team from forcing overtime.

“Last year, this is the type of game that we would have blown,” junior guard Sindarius Thornwell said after the game.

Thornwell led the way for head coach Frank Martin‘s resurgent squad with a season-high 25 points – adding nine assists, six rebounds and three steals.  Senior forward Michael Carrera – the team’s undisputed floor leader – added 20 points and four rebounds.  As he has all season, Carrera nailed several clutch three-point shots in the second half to keep South Carolina close when Texas A&M appeared to be on the verge of blowing the game open.

The gritty win marked the Gamecocks’ first road victory over a Top Ten opponent in a decade – and gave Martin his first 20-win season at South Carolina (he hit that mark in each of his five seasons at Kansas State from 2007-08 to 2011-12).

Needless to say, the temperature under the fiery coach’s chair has cooled considerably as the Gamecocks seek to earn their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2004 (and record their first NCAA win since 1974).

South Carolina returns home to face LSU on Wednesday, February 10 at 7:00 p.m. EST.  That game will be televised nationally on ESPN 2.  After that the Gamecocks will play No. 20 Kentucky at home on Saturday, February 13.  That game will tipoff at 12:00 p.m. EST and will be televised nationally on ESPN.

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35 comments

stumpknocker February 6, 2016 at 9:40 pm

nice little piece there, the lady gamecock are averaging 3500 more fans a game and are going to battle against uconn on monday, oh but you can’t go there, it is sold out and our coach is going for her 6th gold medal in the 2016 olympics. but we all know they are black and they are women and fits ain’t running a piece on those people unless it is to run they are shit piece. Hurrah for the undefeated Lady Gamecocks and their five time olympic gold medal winning coach Dawn Staley. FUCK YOU WILL, YOU ARE A REPUBLICAN ASSHOLE FIRST AND A GAMECOCK SECOND! your blog is proof of that.
stumpknocker

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shifty henry February 6, 2016 at 10:02 pm

fine … until you got to the CAPS

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stumpknocker February 6, 2016 at 10:27 pm

its was the third time i posted to that point, having to repeat myself twice just brings out the redneck in me

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Squishy123 February 7, 2016 at 9:23 am

Why isn’t anyone screaming “diversity” with the women’s program? Not one white player on the team. How many teams across the country besides HBCU’s are 100% black? Ugliest coach in the country refusing to go into white homes???

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Bible Thumper February 7, 2016 at 4:25 pm

Why isn’t anyone screaming “diversity” ???
They’re WINNING !!!!!

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Squishy123 February 7, 2016 at 8:21 pm

That and the fact that the “women” on that team probably have bigger dicks than most of the guys on this blog.

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stumpknocker February 7, 2016 at 10:43 pm

it ain’t the size of your dick, it is how you use it. you at best have a tape worm for a dick

Scooter February 8, 2016 at 6:51 pm

Your wife would say that includes you too

Squishy123 February 9, 2016 at 9:55 am

I doubt she’s been in the USCe women’s locker room… the stench alone would probably keep most people out.

stumpknocker February 7, 2016 at 9:48 pm

you see will, this is your ilk, you are swimming with them, are you going to toss your children into the pool to see if they can swim in it?

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beaverball barry February 7, 2016 at 11:22 pm

they’re all playing for runner up anyway. no one can beat uconn. I dont see the big draw. These people around here get excited by pig shit. and yes the coach looks like a mook.

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9" February 8, 2016 at 9:36 pm

UConn-Fast
Carolina-Fat

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Squishy123 February 9, 2016 at 9:54 am

Not to mention it was the UConn white girls playing fundamental basketball vs. USCe black girl playing street ball. Once USCe got behind they started to panic and everyone from the coach down lost their composure.

9" February 9, 2016 at 4:39 pm

kinda embarassing.the team AND coach should run some laps…

Ron February 8, 2016 at 6:54 pm

All I have to say about this post…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FONN-0uoTHI

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Flip February 7, 2016 at 2:18 am

Now that the confederate flag is gone maybe we can host some NCAA stuff around here, and if the Gamecocks keep it up they’ll be playing in it too!

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euwe max February 7, 2016 at 6:37 am

And in other news:

Rubio – Establishment whipping boy

Chris Christie says Marco Rubio uses a “memorized 25-second speech” to get his points across. Is Christie right? You be the judge. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

To better understand what happened at Thursday night’s GOP debate, let’s go back a few months to Republicans’ October debate on CNBC.

In one of his break-out moments this campaign, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) slammed down an attempted jab from his former mentor, former Florida governor Jeb Bush (R), about Rubio’s Senate attendance record.

“The only reason why you’re doing it now is because we’re running for the same position, and someone convinced you that attacking me is going to help you,” he said.

It was a devastating attack in part because Rubio delivered it with conviction, catching Bush off-guard and challenging his once-mentor’s own conviction — both for the game of politics and for the job both men ultimately want.

On Saturday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie turned the tables on Rubio with his own bruising and personal line about depending too much on advisers and talking points.

The line, like Bush in that October debate, appeared to catch Rubio off-guard. And, like the moment was for Bush, the exchange was a potential game-changer for Rubio — and not in a good way.

Here’s the play by play:

Earlier this week, Rubio’s supporter, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, struggled in a TV interview to name a Rubio accomplishment. So on Saturday, ABC gave Rubio a chance to defend his record.

[Marco Rubio’s biggest problem, as explained by supporter Rick Santorum]

Rubio said leadership shouldn’t be about time spent in office — if it were, then someone like Vice President Biden would be president, he said.

Over to the side of the stage, Christie saw an opening for the playbook he’s followed in most of these debates: Bash the senators as Washington show horses who don’t know what true leadership is.

[This GOP debate proved being a senator is bad for running for president]

Christie launched into a lecture about what leadership is, comparing Rubio to another young, talented first-term senator who ran — and won — in 2008.

“He simply does not have the experience to be the president of the United States and make these decisions,” Christie said.

Rubio shot back with a line about how New Jersey’s credit rating had been downgraded under Christie. Then, he somewhat awkwardly pivoted to his stump speech about how Barack Obama is ruining this nation, and how he will make America great again.

It was a scripted moment from a seemingly November-focused Rubio. And Christie called him out on it:

Rubio tried to get personal by accusing Christie of not wanting to return to New Jersey during a recent snowstorm. The crowd saw what Rubio was doing and booed.

As the two bickered back and forth, Rubio seemed stuck in one gear: Repeat his stump speech. And every time, Christie called him out on it.

“There it is,” Christie said, turning toward the audience. “The 25-second memorized speech.”

In fact, Rubio seemed stuck during this exchange on the same talking points Christie accused him of clinging to. He had a strong third place finish in Iowa, nearly coming in second, and has been gaining ground in the polls ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. A strong finish in the state would help make Rubio’s case that he’s the establishment candidate the rest should rally behind.

But he seemed almost too eager to make that case in Saturday’s debate. And perhaps as a result, his debate performance sounded more like a broken record than the establishment leader. It did him no favors that Christie, a talented debater, seized the moment to paint Rubio as just another scripted Washington insider.

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Bible Thumper February 7, 2016 at 4:18 pm

I think most voters understand that debating performance skills are not that useful to a President. They are looking deeper into what policies they will pursue and how they formulate policies.

The conventional wisdom was that Cruz had a bad performance at the debate just prior to the Iowa caucus, yet he won.

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Chris Christy February 8, 2016 at 11:53 am

He is not ready to be President.

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Flip February 8, 2016 at 8:40 am

*pulls string*

I think Barack Obama knows exactly what he’s doing!

*pulls string*

I think Barack Obama knows exactly what he’s doing!

*pulls string*

I think Barack Obama knows exactly what he’s doing!

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Rocky Verdad February 8, 2016 at 12:34 pm

Pull string – “Let’s go to a bubble pool. Let’s go to a bubble pool.”

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euwe max February 8, 2016 at 4:05 pm

Fuck Obama!

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erneba February 7, 2016 at 8:29 am

Looking good this season, and the future looks good with only four seniors on their sixteen man roster. How many of the seniors are in the starting lineup?

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9" February 7, 2016 at 9:43 am

Great game on both sides.Beautiful dunk by PJ Dozier.I remember seeing his uncle Terry play,back in the day…
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/2579/south-carolina-gamecocks

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Rocky Verdad February 7, 2016 at 2:16 pm

Anyone know how Ohio State is doing?

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Philip Branton February 8, 2016 at 7:49 am

Wish someone from Ohio in Myrtle Beach would tell us……I can’t find espn….I’m a Fits zombie…

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ohio cretins February 8, 2016 at 10:56 am

shouldnt be too hard. just follow them to the bob evans

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Rocky Verdad February 8, 2016 at 12:33 pm

Dang – I would not eat there. Do they still have them?

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Flip February 8, 2016 at 8:41 am

LMAO!!! You’re all right Rocky!

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euwe max February 7, 2016 at 3:01 pm

Where is the Republican Establishment?

The establishment features prominently in the GOP presidential race. It is what Donald Trump and Ted Cruz rail against. It is hated by a significant portion of the Republican electorate. It is a ready term of abuse.

The establishment is a matter of obsession, but is almost nowhere to be seen, as its initial choice, Jeb Bush, languishes in the polls, and Trump and Cruz rise essentially untouched. The establishment isn’t what it used to be. As Jay Cost of the Weekly Standard points out, the party once was a well-defined hierarchical organization in each state and chose presidential candidates without regard to public opinion. It had the power to nix candidates who clearly had the most popular support in favor of its preferred alternatives — for example, blocking Teddy Roosevelt’s nomination in 1912 to stick with incumbent president William Howard Taft. That establishment is long gone, replaced by a loose, informal network that has the power to influence, but not to decide, in the era of primaries and caucuses. There are no longer party bosses, and even the formal chairman of the party is diminished, thanks partly to the strictures of campaign-finance reform. A paraphrase of the old Henry Kissinger gibe about Europe is apt: Who do I call when I want to get the Republican establishment on the phone? Which isn’t to say that the Republican establishment doesn’t exist. It is, roughly speaking, made up of current officeholders, prominent former officeholders, consultants and lobbyists, donors, and business groups like the Chamber of Commerce.

It is a large group of people that doesn’t get together for regular meetings to decide what to do, nor does it walk in lockstep. But there is a default toward highly conventional political judgments, a distaste for social issues and support for comprehensive immigration reform. It tends to talk to itself, and disdain a populist, working-class politics. It can be terminally unimaginative and out of touch.

With its reputation so toxic, there has never been a better time to be anti-establishment. Inveighing against it is an effective rallying cry, at the same time that the establishment itself doesn’t pack much punch. Since the establishment is ill-defined, it can be used as an all-purpose cudgel. Marco Rubio, who defeated a sitting Republican governor in his Florida Senate primary in 2010 and ran against his own mentor and the presumed establishment choice in this presidential race (Jeb Bush), is now considered a dastardly tool of the establishment by those who oppose him.

The establishment hasn’t been in a position to impose a candidate on the party in a long time. But if it coalesces around a standard-bearer, it gives him the tools — chiefly money and endorsements — to persuade enough of the Republican electorate to nominate him. The establishment pick might get upset by an insurgent in a key state — think John McCain in New Hampshire in 2000 or Newt Gingrich in South Carolina in 2012 — but grinds him down with superior resources.

This time the establishment, at least a large complement of its donors, picked Bush, who turned out not to have the strength to scare competitors out of the race or to maintain a dominant position in the race. Now the establishment is at sea, dazed and confused by the rise of Trump and powerless to stop him or, for the moment, even to influence the race. Some donors are afraid of being called a loser by Trump if they organize an effort against him. Others calculate that if they try to hurt Trump now, it will only help Cruz, who they worry might be as or more unelectable. And there is no clear alternative to Trump or Cruz, with other top candidates splitting support roughly evenly in New Hampshire. Rarely has an establishment been so reviled and such a nonfactor. 2016 might be the year it goes down without a fight.

.

– from the stinkhole at National Review.

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idcydm February 7, 2016 at 4:54 pm

You must not be much of a basketball fan.

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Matt February 7, 2016 at 5:05 pm

Even being a Clemson fan I have to admit the Gamecock mens hoops program is having a heck of a season.

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Bible Thumper February 7, 2016 at 11:12 pm

Did Carolina Panthers really just get beat by that team with a old PED quarterback from that “legal” weed smoking state? That’s embarrassing. The Panthers looked worse than that other team called Carolina.

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ncaa suits February 7, 2016 at 11:15 pm

Why did ncaa college baseball regional superregional get exempt status as opposed to ncaa basketball regionals or bowl games under the ncaa confederate flag cabal

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Bible Thumper February 8, 2016 at 12:02 am

Because they were not neutral sites like basketball. Baseball regionals are awarded to the colleges for their teams performance. Basketball regionals locations are not based on college team performance.

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