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No. 7 Alabama overcomes deficit to nip South Carolina

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Posted 7:04AM on Thursday 14th February 2002 ( 23 years ago )
COLUMBIA, S.C. - How often does this happen? Alabama coach Mark Gottfried saw the worst offensive basketball of his life and left Carolina Coliseum with a smile. <br> <br> ``I don&#39;t know that I&#39;ve ever been prouder of any group of people than I am of our team,&#39;&#39; said Gottfried, whose seven-ranked Crimson Tide rallied from 15-points down to defeat South Carolina 52-51 Wednesday night. <br> <br> Rod Grizzard scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half to power the comeback. <br> <br> Things sure didn&#39;t look good, though, when Alabama scored just 15 points by halftime and trailed 37-22 with 14:14 to go. <br> <br> But Grizzard turned the Tide and the game with his play. <br> <br> ``We had a half where we played very poorly offensively,&#39;&#39; Gottfried said. ``At halftime they came out with an unbelievably determined attitude. It&#39;s a tremendous win for our team.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Grizzard said it was like ``one-on-five&#39;&#39; in the first half. ``We&#39;d pass the ball, they would shift the defense and we&#39;d stand around,&#39;&#39; he said. ``The coaches called us on it at halftime and we came out differently.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Especially Grizzard. He and Erwin Dudley combined for 23 points during a 30-14 run that gave the Tide a 52-51 lead with 4:09 to go. <br> <br> Grizzard had the winning bucket a short turnaround for Alabama&#39;s second lead of the game and neither team scored the rest of the way. <br> <br> ``I thought Rod was terrific. He took the game over,&#39;&#39; Gottfried said. ``He played like an SEC player of the year candidate. I think that gave our team confidence.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> South Carolina (14-10, 4-7) had several chances to retake the lead. Chuck Eidson missed an open 15-footer, Rolando Howell walked while backing into the basket and Aaron Lucas hit the rim on a long 3-pointer from the corner with 42 seconds to go. <br> <br> The Gamecocks got one more chance when Grizzard missed a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left, but could not connect. Eidson&#39;s pass beneath the basket to Howell was knocked out of bounds by Demetrius Smith with 3.7 seconds left, then Howell&#39;s desperation tip after a long miss by Jamel Bradley fell away. <br> <br> Grizzard was 7-of-9 from the field 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the second half. He also got six of his nine rebounds after the break. <br> <br> Eidson looked like he was going to take a 12-foot jumper before he spied Howell streaking toward the basket and the pass was knocked away. South Carolina coach Dave Odom loudly questioned Eidson&#39;s decision on the pivotal play. <br> <br> ``You cannot play at this level and beat the seventh place team in the country and not take shots,&#39;&#39; he said. ``You cannot do it.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Eidson said, ``In hindsight, maybe I should have shot.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Dudley had 20 points for Alabama, which has won seven of its last eight games. <br> <br> Lucas had 17 points to lead South Carolina, while Bradley - the Gamecocks&#39; leading scorer - was 1-of-8 from the field and was held to two points, 12 below his average. <br> <br> Gottfried couldn&#39;t believe what he was seeing in the opening half. ``I don&#39;t know that I&#39;ve been with a group that was that poor in the first half,&#39;&#39; said Gottfried, a former Crimson Tide player. ``It was a debacle of offensive basketball.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The 15 points were the fewest Alabama had scored before halftime since getting 22 in last year&#39;s 60-55 victory over South Carolina. <br> <br> But Dudley and Grizzard became the comeback. <br> <br> Dudley scored the first six points of the surge, then Grizzard had 10 of the next 14 points, including two three-point plays. Grizzard hit two foul shots with 5:29 remaining that gave the Crimson Tide their first lead of the game, 50-49. <br> <br> Howell connected as South Carolina took its last lead, 51-50, before Grizzard, who was saddled with two early fouls, won it for Alabama. <br> <br> ``We&#39;re used to seeing Rod do that,&#39;&#39; Dudley said. ``He made the plays when we really needed it.&#39;&#39;

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