Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008

Clemson wins fifth straight vs. USC

At the start, it appeared a big upset could be in the making. But it quickly turned back into the game most expected.

But the first matchup between Darrin Horn’s South Carolina team and Oliver Purnell’s Clemson squad still ended up being as entertaining — and for USC, as informative — as any of the recent matchups have been.

No. 20 Clemson came away with a 98-87 victory at the Colonial Life Arena on Tuesday night. It was the Tigers’ fifth consecutive victory in the series, and the first against Horn.

The rivalry, however, ended up being a side note. So did the fact USC star Devan Downey scored a career-high 37 points while terming his performance “horrible.”

No, what stood out for the Gamecocks was how well they played against one of the best teams they will face. And the fact they still lost by double digits told them how far the program still has to go.

“Our guys fought. That’s not good enough. We’re here to win,” Horn said. “We’re not happy with how we performed. But I think that we can take from this game that there’s some positive coming for our team.”

The announced crowd of 16,168 was easily USC’s biggest of the season, with perhaps a quarter of them Clemson fans. In the final minute a chant of “Let’s go Tigers” reverberated around the Gamecocks’ home arena.

Clemson (13-0) reminded both sets of fans that it has a rising program. South Carolina (9-2), facing its first BCS-conference opponent, realized it had to be at the top of its game from here on out.

Downey was an example. Despite setting a new record for points scored in the Colonial Life Arena, he had zero assists and eight turnovers.

“We want to beat a top-25 team, I’ve got to do a better job being the point guard,” Downey said.

It was a game of wild fluctuations. USC went from leading by 11 in the first half to trailing by 16. Clemson led by as many as 18 in the second half, then as few as six.

“We just kept our poise,” said Clemson’s Trevor Booker, who had several big rebounds and dunks in the first half. “This is a smart team. Composure is big on this team.”

Downey was matched by another small point guard: Freshman Andre Young was spectacular in the first half, notching eight assists in relief of foul-plagued starter Demontez Stitt. Then in the second half Young hit a spot-up 3 against tight defense after USC had drawn within seven.

Clemson’s Terrence Oglesby was just as big, hitting six 3-pointers. His outside shooting helped power Clemson’s first-half comeback, and in the second half, he seemed to hit a 3 every time USC was threatening to rally.

“Those all came at crucial times when we had started to make a little run or gained a little momentum,” Horn said. “If those don’t go down and we can get a score, it just kind of changes the way the game goes.”

Added Purnell: “As long as he plays within himself and he’s patient, he’s like an assassin out there.”

Each team had an 11-point lead in the first half. Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, theirs came first. And Clemson expanded on its lead late in the half, going up by as many as 16.

For Clemson it was a two-pronged effect getting back into the game. First came a few baskets, which helped them set their defense off the inbounds.

“That was just us not taking care of the ball,” Downey said. “Things like that are what Clemson lives for, turnover-3(-pointer) — that’s how they make their living.”

And it was how Clemson got by its rival once again.

“I haven’t seen anybody in the SEC really, I don’t sit around and watch TV,” Horn said. “But they’re going to have to be really good to be significantly better than the team we just played.”

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