Brandis Raley-Ross

#18 Tennessee too much for USC

February 20, 2010 By Kevin McCrarey

USC drops its third straight SEC game

USC kept it close for 35 minutes against 18th ranked Tennessee, but they couldn’t find the plays they needed down the stretch in a 63-55 loss Saturday afternoon at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia.

The Vols were vulnerable for sure. Carolina has been tough to beat at home this season and for a while it looked like they were going to pull another upset against a top 25 team at the CLA. Tennessee played a sloppy game, committing 19 turnovers. A lot of those turnovers were unforced mental mistakes. Carolina had a 28-24 lead at the half and with under five minutes left to play it was a two possession ball game. You would have to say USC had the Vols right where they wanted them. All you can ask for is a chance to win the game down the stretch. However, Carolina had a couple of turnovers and bad possessions in the closing minutes and just like that Tennessee had a working margin that was fluctuating between seven and nine points.

Darrin Horn knew his team needed to be almost flawless to knock off Tennessee. He’s said all season his team has a small margin for error. The effort was there the entire game, unfortunately the execution was not.

USC coach Darrin Horn postgame press conference

Horn post UT

Quite simply Tennessee was the better team. We can dissect the stats and see where USC shot 5-26 from 3-point land and only took 15 free throws to the Vols 32. We can point out the Gamecocks only got three points in scoring from its bench. The simple fact of the matter is Tennessee is the better team and nine times out of ten, or even 99 out of 100, the better team wins.

I do give Horn and his staff credit for coming up with a nice game plan to give themselves a chance. In the first meeting Wayne Chism torched the Gamecocks for 30 points. He only had 11 Saturday. Also, Horn combated the extra attention on Downey with ball screens that created opportunities for others like Brandis-Raley Ross to get some good looks. The problem is most of those looks didn’t fall. A coach can do a lot, but he can’t make shots. The Gamecocks got the shots but couldn’t hit them.

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl was extremely complimintary of the job Horn and his staff did preparing for the game. USC did get the Vols off kilter for about 35 minutes. In the end, they came out on top because of supurier depth and talent. Those are two gaps that Horn will be working to close as he brings in his next couple of recruiting classes.

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl postgame

Pearl post USC

Downey finished with 15 points. That’s about 15 fewer than we are used to him scoring in SEC play. I still would take Downey over any player in the SEC but I think we can safely put the Downey player of the year talk to bed. Brandis Raley-Ross actually led the Gamecocks in scoring with 16.

Devon Downey postgame

Downey post UT

Brandis Raley Ross postgame

Raley-Ross post UT

USC is 14-12 and 5-7 in the SEC. They play at Kentucky on Saturday. You think the Wildcats have that game circled on their schedule?

USC vs 18th ranked Tennessee BOX SCORE

Filed Under: USC Gamecocks Tagged With: Brandis Raley-Ross, Bruce Pearl, Darrin Horn, Devon Downey

Gamecocks chomp on Gators 77-71

February 10, 2010 By Phil Kornblut

Darrin Horn

USC used a 46 point second half to defeat Florida Wednesday night in Columbia 77-71. The Gamecocks trailed 35-31 at halftime as the Gators shot 68% from the floor over the first 20 minutes. But Florida fell victim to poor ball handling and poor free throw shooting in losing to the Gamecocks at the Colonial Life Arena for the second year in a row. The Gators finished with a season high 20 turnovers and were just 10-23 from the foul line. The Gamecocks were 19-24 from stripe and turned it over a season low matching six times. Ramon Galloway’s three pointer with 6:28 to play broke a 53-53 tie and started the Gamecocks on a 14-6 run as they built an 11 point lead with :49 left.

AUDIO: Darrin Horn

darrin horn 2-10

Devan Downey

Devan Downey led the Gamecocks with 24 points, a season low for him in SEC games. He was just 6-18 from the floor and 1-6 on three pointers. But he was 11-12 from the line including nine of ten over the final two minutes. Despite playing on a bum ankle, Downey logged 34 minutes. He also contributed four steals and two assists.

AUDIO: Devan Downey

devan downey 2-10

Downey will continue to wear a boot on his injured ankle for precautionary reasons. Johndre Jefferson suffered a sprained ankle in the game and will be be further evaluated Thursday.

Brandis Raley-Ross matched his career high with 20 points and hit three big three pointers in the second has as the Gamecocks turned a seven point deficit into an 11 point lead.

AUDIO: Brandis Raley-Ross

brandis raley-ross 2-10

Sam Muldrow added 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Gamecocks. Erving Walker led the Gators with 20 points.

USC improves to 14-9 overall and 5-4 in the SEC and will play Saturday at Georgia. Florida drops to 17-7 and 6-4 in the league. The Gators step out of the league to take on Xavier in Gainesville Saturday.

Final box

Filed Under: USC Gamecocks Tagged With: Brandis Raley-Ross, Darrin Horn, Devan Downey

Darrin Horn previews USC-Ole Miss

January 19, 2010 By Kevin McCrarey

Downey and the Gamecocks head to Oxford

Darrin Horn met with the media this afternoon to preview tomorrow night’s game at #22 Ole Miss. The Gamecocks are 11-6 and 2-1 in the SEC and the Rebels are 13-4 and 1-2 in the conference.

Darrin Horn previews Ole Miss

darrin horn 1-19

The Gamecocks are coming off a ten point home loss against Vanderbilt on Saturday night. Horn was not pleased with the defensive effort in the game and pointed specifically to Sam Muldrow has a guy that needs to step up on that end of the floor. Muldrow only had two rebounds against the Commodores.

Devon Downey has been on fire for the Gamecocks. He scored 35 against Vandy and he’s averaged over 30 points per game in the Gamecocks three league contest. The problem is he also lead the team in rebounding against Vandy. If your 5-9 point guard is your leading rebounder you are in trouble.

Senior guard Brandis Raley-Ross understands the other guys on the team need to do more to help Downey. He is confident the rest of the team will be able to feed off of Downey and step up their respective games. It will take a complete team effort to knock off a very good Ole Miss team. Especially on the road in Oxford.

Brandis Raley-Ross talks Ole Miss

brandis raley-ross 1-19

Tomorrow night’s game tips off at 9:00. It will be televised on CSS.

Filed Under: USC Gamecocks Tagged With: Brandis Raley-Ross, Darrin Horn

USC beats LSU, improves to 2-0 in the SEC

January 13, 2010 By Kevin McCrarey

Downey drops 29 to lead the Gamecocks over LSU

USC battled back from an eight point halftime deficit to knock off LSU 67-58 Wednesday night at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia. The win improves the Gamecocks to 2-0 in the SEC, their best start in the league since 1997. They are 11-5 overall.

LSU came into this game with something to prove. The Tigers were embarrassed at home against Alabama over the weekend and they were ready to give USC their best shot.

Early in the game it looked like the Tigers might have a chance to take one from the Gamecocks. They were finding easy baskets in the paint and they led for most of the first half by capitalizing on dunks and uncontested layups. The Tigers shot 54% from the floor and would have had an 11 point lead at the break if not for a Devon Downey 3 at the buzzer that cut the lead to eight at the half. That seemed to trigger a spurt in the momentum in favor of the Gamecocks and it carried over into the second half.

Darrin Horn post game news conference

darrin horn post lsu

Horn and Gamecocks are 2-0 in SEC

What can else can you say about Downey? He is taking this undermanned team and putting them on his shoulders. He finished with 29 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists. His play, and more importantly his energy, triggered the Gamecocks rally. This was a tight game until the final four minutes when Downey took over with gritty defense and gutsy shots. He made six of his 12 three point attempts and was 10-22 overall. This kid is impressive to watch and even though he started his career at Cincinnati, you have to put him among the all-time greats to play at USC.

Devon Downey postgame media interview

downey post lsu

Downey is impressive but he isn’t doing it alone. Fellow senior Brandis Raley-Ross chipped in 12 points and made a couple of big shots late to help the Gamecocks pull away. With Dominique Archie gone, Raley-Ross is doing his best to be the consistent second scorer the team needs. He was only 5-13 shooting but his leadership down the stretch was evident and he gave the team what it needed to pull away from the pesky Tigers.

Brandis Raley Ross postgame media interview

brandis raley-ross post lsu

Raley-Ross providing key senior leadership

The Gamecocks have a unique style of play. They like it up tempo and aren’t afraid to give up some quick baskets in order to keep the pace going. They also aren’t afraid to jack up the shots. The Gamecocks took 63 shots to the Tigers 44. They shot and eye popping 32 three pointers. The Tigers shot seven and made just one. Carolina also won the battle on the boards and outrebounded LSU 38-32. Simply put, the Gamecocks were the more aggressive, physical team and they wore down LSU.

This is a nice win for USC. They announced attendance was 12,103 and the fans were excited and into the game. As I stated above, the Gamecocks style of play is, if anything, entertaining to watch. If the Gamecocks can keep winning the crowds will grow and so will the prospects of a strong second season for Horn and company.

The road gets tougher from here though. Vanderbilt will be in town Saturday to provide Carolina with its first true SEC test of the season. Vandy won at Alabama 65-64 Wednesday night and is 13-3 and 2-0 in the SEC. If the Gamecocks can get by the Commodores and jump out to a 3-0 start in the conference things will be very interesting heading into the two road game at Ole Miss (1/20) and Florida (1/23).

Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt will tip off at 6:00 at the Colonial Life Arena.

USC-LSU box score

Filed Under: USC Gamecocks Tagged With: Brandis Raley-Ross, Darrin Horn, Devon Downey

Archie stands tall in USC victory

November 16, 2009 By Phil Kornblut

Archie dominates Eagles

USC senior forward Dominique Archie recorded a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds Monday night to lead the Gamecocks past Georgia Southern 90-66 at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia. Archie was 5-7 from the floor and hit all three of this three pointers. The Gamecocks led by just seven points at halftime but scored the first 16 points of the second half to break open the game. Four other Gamecocks scored in double figures. Devan Downey had 14 points and six assists, but he also turned the ball over seven times. The Gamecocks committed 24 turnovers. The teams combined for 45 turnovers and 48 personal fouls. The Gamecocks are now 2-0 and will play LaSalle Thursday night in the first round of the Charleston Classic.

AUDIO: Darrin Horn post game news conference (7:15)

AUDIO: Dominique Archie (2:30)

AUDIO: Brandis Raley-Ross (2:57)

Box Score

Filed Under: College basketball, USC Gamecocks Tagged With: Brandis Raley-Ross, Darrin Horn, Dominique Archie