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Postgame: Downey deflects NBA talk
Posted on 03.18.09
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Gallery: USC vs. DavidsonDevan Downey knew the questions about his future would come up Tuesday. So he had a non-answer on stock.
“I’m not answering any questions about my individual (future). Everything I’m answering is about the Gamecocks,” Downey said.
Downey, a two-time, first-team All-SEC selection, would be a fifth-year senior next season.
“The only thing I can say is I’ve never told anybody I was leaving. So if anybody is spreading that rumor, it’s just not true,” he said.
End of another era. The realization hit everyone in Colonial Life Arena with 36.3 seconds to go as Zam Fredrick’s fifth foul was announced.
The senior received hugs from his teammates and buried his head in each of his coach’s shoulders as he went down the bench. He did the same with his father moments after the game.
Asked aftwerwards about his final game, Fredrick said: “A lot of thoughts. Last game as a college basketball player, just not putting on the uniform again, not this one anyway. Just the atmosphere, and all the people that come and watch, all my family and friends.”
He finished with 964 points at USC and 1,283 for his college career.
Divine help? Davidson coach Bob McKillop said he was praying before the game at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Columbia.
“I swear I heard Frank McGuire’s voice say, ‘Bobby don’t worry about it, it’s St. Patty’s Day,’ ” McKillop said. “So I felt pretty good coming into tonight.”
Extra point. USC coach Darrin Horn also was present the last time there was an NIT game in the building. His Western Kentucky team fell to USC in the second round of the 2006 tournament.
KEY MOMENT: With 8:40 to go and USC trailing by two, Zam Fredrick was called for a charge — leading coach Darrin Horn to get called for a technical foul. It proved to be the Gamecocks’ last chance to tie the game. Davidson’s Stephen Curry sank both free throws to make it 55-51, and he put the game away from there.
STAR OF THE GAME: Curry exceeded his scoring average — 29.8 points per game, tops in the country. He finished with 32 points despite missing the final five minutes of the first half after picking up his second foul.
POINT OF EMPHASIS: South Carolina flip-flopped its strength and weakness. Its outside shooting was never there, as the Gamecocks’ two 3-pointers were a season low. But they shot fairly well from the free throw line — once a liability — hitting 19-of-27.
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