South Carolina makes NIT Final Four

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Posted 7:17AM on Friday, March 22, 2002

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina guard Aaron Lucas won't apologize for the tears in his eyes or the smile on his face. ``It's not the NCAA tournament,'' Lucas said after the Gamecocks beat Ball State 82-47 in the NIT quarterfinals. ``But the NIT, you can't beat this at all.'' Lucas' eyes were red with emotion after he and his teammates cut down the nets after the final game in the Frank McGuire Arena on Thursday night. The Gamecocks (21-14), who won for the first time in five appearance in the tournament quarterfinals, will face Syracuse on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. Temple plays host to Villanova on Friday night, while Tennessee Tech is at Memphis on Saturday night to determine the other semifinalists. ``The way we're playing is phenomenal,'' said Jamel Bradley, who led the Gamecocks with 17 points. ``I think good teams gel at the end.'' South Carolina didn't look headed anywhere after blowing its NCAA tournament chances with three straight losses to end the regular season. The team has won five of six since then. They may have never been as dominating as they were in the opening half. ``That first half, that was unreal,'' said Tony Kitchings, who had 12 points and eight rebounds. The Gamecocks led 14-2 less than five minutes in. The margin grew to 48-12 at halftime. There couldn't have been a better way to close the arena brought to life by the Old Irishman, Frank McGuire, in 1968. ``We're going from one special place to another,'' said South Carolina coach Dave Odom, who won the 2000 NIT with Wake Forest. More special memories were made after the game. Odom and his team cut down the nets to the sounds of ``New York, New York.'' The Cardinals looked like an NCAA tournament team after opening the season with victories over Kansas and UCLA in the Maui Invitational. But they struggled to find the basket as the Gamecocks swarmed around the man with the ball. Ball State started 1-of-8, and it only got worse from there. The Cardinals ended the half with 15 turnovers and only five field goals. Their 12 points at the break were their fewest this season. Patrick Jackson, Chris Williams and Theron Smith, who averaged about 56 points a game combined, ended the first period with six points on 2-of-17 shooting. Smith finished with 12 points to lead Ball State. ``Five guys playing as one on defense,'' Odom said. ``When you get that over a half, you've got to thank your lucky stars.'' The Cardinals came in 38-of-77 on 3s in their three NIT games. But they went 3-of-20 from long range against the Gamecocks. Chuck Eidson had a 3-pointer and a basket as South Carolina went up 7-0. Kitchings added two foul shots, Rolando Howell had a dunk and Bradley a long 3-pointer for the 14-2 margin. Ball State coach Tim Buckley tried to revive his tired team - the Cardinals went directly from their second-round win at LSU on Tuesday night to Columbia - with a timeout at the 18:49 mark. However, nothing worked. The closest Ball State came after halftime was 60-30 on Smith's basket with 12:14 remaining. ``I'd be lying to you if I said there wasn't some sort of mental fatigue for us,'' Buckley said. ``But we had some good looks that didn't go in.'' The rest of the game was a giddy celebration for the crowd of 10,307 that next year will sit in an 18,000-seat arena under construction a block away.