Box Score
March 29, 2005
By IRA PODELL
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK - South Carolina wasn't going to let Maryland pull this one
out - no matter how many people were rooting for yet another comeback.
Carlos Powell scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and the Gamecocks
thwarted the sloppy Terrapins 75-67 Tuesday night to reach the NIT championship
game.
"We just tried to pick it up in the second half," Powell said. "We knew
they were going to go on a run so we just tried to stay a lot more aggressive
than them."
The Gamecocks (19-13) crashed the boards all night, pulling down 20
offensive rebounds - 44 overall.
Now they are in the NIT final for the second time in four seasons and will
face Saint Joseph's for the title on Thursday night.
The Hawks (24-11) eliminated Memphis 70-58 in the opener of the doubleheader
at Madison Square Garden.
That was good news for the Gamecocks, who lost the 2002 NIT championship
game to Memphis and were knocked out of the NCAA tournament last year by the
Tigers in the first round.
"Now that I don't have to play them, I can say that's who I was pulling
for," South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. "I wanted one more shot at them
... that's not true.
"Memphis is a great team with a great coach but Saint Joe's is the one
that's been dealt to us and we'll have our hands full with them."
The Terrapins had made coming-from-behind a common occurrence in the NIT. In
the first round, they trailed Oral Roberts by 13 in first half and by 16 in the
second round to Davidson.
Even in the quarterfinal victory over TCU, Maryland rallied from two
second-half deficits to advance. But those games were on its home floor. The
partisan New York crowd tried to make the Terps feel at home, but it wasn't
enough.
"They have made a lot of comebacks and we've allowed a lot of comebacks,"
Odom said. "It did concern me, but hopefully that's a sign that we're past
that."
The Gamecocks were 62.5 percent from the foul line, but they made enough
free throws down the stretch to hold off Maryland. South Carolina turned the
ball over 13 times.
Josh Gonner scored 11 of his 12 points in the first half, when South
Carolina turned an early five-point deficit into a 14-point lead.
Powell had only six points in the first half, but he surpassed his 16.4
average with a solid final 20 minutes.
South Carolina players clapped their way into this title game as their
teammates paraded to the foul line during the final minute.
Travis Garrison, Chris McCray and Mike Jones each scored 15 points for
Maryland, which had another of its long-running, positive streaks snapped.
The Terrapins (19-13) were looking for their ninth straight 20-win season,
but fell a game short.
Maryland missed the NCAA tournament this season after making 11 straight
trips, and was trying to win a consolation prize in the NIT three years after
winning the national championship.
"The program is not going away, it's just we didn't have as good of a year
as we wanted to have," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "I don't think
we're going anywhere, I just think we have to work hard to get where we want to
be next year."
The Terps tried to make another of their signature comebacks in the second
half, after trailing by as many as 18 points.
But careless ball-handling, hard passes that smacked off hands and sailed
out of bounds, poor defensive rebounding and missed layups made a rally
impossible.
South Carolina led 41-29 at the break and stretched that advantage to 53-35
when the Gamecocks scored consecutive layups 13 seconds apart less than 3
minutes into the second half.
Maryland guard Sterling Ledbetter had 11 turnovers in the first three games
of the NIT, starting in place of the injured John Gilchrist, but he tied the
team-high for the season with six against South Carolina.
The Terps finished with 21 turnovers, just two off a season-worst.
South Carolina's good shooting in the first-half (43.2 percent) rubbed off
on the team mascot, who drilled a halfcourt shot during halftime.
The Gamecocks trail the series 31-27 but improved to 8-1 over Maryland at
neutral sites.
