South Carolina 79 vs. Tennessee 71
”Gamecocks” shock top seeded “Volunteers”

Gaylord Entertainment Center - Nashville, TN

South Carolina’s Renaldo Balkman is one of the most versatile players in the SEC while teammate Tre’ Kelley may be one of the most underrated point-guards, well so far in this years SEC Tournament Balkman has proven that he is indeed one of the most versatile players in the league and Kelley has been the best PG on they court up to this point … just ask first year Head Coach Bruce Pearl and his top seeded Tennessee “Volunteers” who fell 79-71.

With a sea of orange filling the Gayland Entertainment Center Tennessee opened the game with two quick three-pointers by 6-4 Jr.-Dane Bradshaw and 6-1 So.-JaJuan Smith to take an early 8-2 lead.

6-8 Jr.-Renaldo Balkman is a relentless player, he scored off of a missed shot and then made a steal and dunk as the “Gamecocks” cut the lead to 12-10. He would stick a short jumper a few moments later to tie the game at 12-12.

With 9:43 left in the half South Carolina jumped on top by four 20-16 as Balkman recorded another dunk and 6-6 Sr.-Tarence Kinsey scored on a lay-up.

The fans were really bumped up and the players from both teams responded with a great effort on both ends of the court. Bradshaw drained his second three-pointer for the “Volunteers” tying the game at 24-24 with 3:23 left in the half.

The teams would take swapping the lead until 6-1 Jr.-Tre’ Kelley knocked down a three-pointer to give South Carolina a 31-27 lead. Kelley’s contribution to the “Gamecocks” is measured in more than just points; his decision making has been the key for South Carolina so far and it hasn’t hurt that he has been hitting some big shots as he drilled another jumper to give his team a 33-27 halftime lead.

As the teams came out to start the second half the noise in the arena got louder and although they were out number 10-1 the South Carolina faithful let their team know they were in the stands as they opened up an 8 point lead 39-31.

As the 2^nd half moved along you could see the top seeded “Volunteers” getting a little tight. Every time they looked like they were going to make a run Coach Dave Odom’s “Gamecocks” would hold the line. As the Tennessee misses continued to pile up the South Carolina point total grew, Two free-throws by Balkman and a lay-up by Kelley made the score 50-38 with 10:57 to play.

Tennessee went three minutes without a field goal before Smith knocked down a three-pointer that cut the lead to 61-47 with 4:33 to play. Even with what appeared to be a comfortable lead South Carolina continued to play the deliberate, patient game that had gotten them to this point; Kelley’s lay-up made the score 65-52.

Despite their poor shooting Tennessee still was within striking distance. 6-2 Sr.-C.J. Watson was fouled shooting a three and stepped to the line to make all three free-throws cutting the lead to 65-55 with 3:12 left to play in the game.

Needing to force the action Tennessee jumped into a full court press; but it didn’t seem to bother the “Gamecocks” much as they worked the ball across mid-court. Forced to foul to get the ball back South Carolina showed it’s cool at the foul line knocking down 8 straight free-throws to made the score 76-63 with 1:01 to play.

Tennessee got a late three-pointer from 6-2 So.-Chris Lofton but it was too little to late as South Carolina pulled off the upset 79-71. The “Gamecocks” move on to the Semi-

Finals” on Saturday.

Scoring Recap

South Carolina:

Tre’ Kelley scored a game high 25 points and dished out 8 assists to lead the “Gamecocks”. Renaldo Balkman finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Tarence Kinsey added 14 points and 3 steals. Brandon Wallace and Rocky Trice each chipped in with 8 points.

Tennessee:

C.J. Watson lead the “Volunteers” scoring 23 points, he also grabbed 5 rebounds. Chris Lofton added 12 points and teammate Dane Bradshaw finished with 10 points and 4 assists. JaJuan Smith and Major Wingate scored 9 and 8 points respectfully.