Dec. 31, 2004

Recap | Final Stats | Notes

South Carolina Head Coach Dave Odom Quotes

Opening Statement “We were very concerned with Howard Wilkerson going in, and I think Carlos Powell did a good job on him before he got the ball. Once he got the ball, we got good help to him and did a nice job taking away their post game. In practice, we made sure that on dribble penetration, we ran away to their shooters, and I feel like we guarded their shooters very well. Offensively, Carlos Powell took the ball right at Wilkerson and got two fouls on him early. This was a real good game for us and we’re proud of how they played tonight.”

Regarding the play of Wofford: “I was very surprised that the game was won as handily as it was. Wofford is a very good team and they just didn’t have their game tonight. Maybe we had something to do with that, but maybe it was just one of those nights for them. Maybe it was too much rest for them or too much travel or too much SEC that wore them down. Regardless, this is a good win over a credible opponent.”

Regarding the fact that the Gamecocks did not press as much as usual: “The press wasn’t necessary today and the players sensed it. The game was won with half court defense. Carlos had an excellent night and it is nice to have Josh Gonner play as well as he did. It was a good way to end 2004 and get into 2005.”

Regarding the state of the team: “It’s nice to get off to such a good start in a game like this. You have got to give the team credit. Coaches always worry about overworking the team, but Carlos told me this morning that they were okay and not to worry. He was right and the players really deserve a lot of credit.”

Wofford Head Coach Mike Young Quotes

Opening Statement: “I do not in any way, shape or form want to diminish or detract from South Carolina’s performance by discussing our injury situation. Had we been at full strength and Carolina played the way they did, we would still have had a difficult time hanging around. All the credit goes to the Gamecocks. They obviously played much better than we did tonight.”

On whether the game was won in the first few minutes: “With a senior-laden team like ours, we had done a pretty good job through 10 games of battling through (poor shooting). We had generated offense with our defense and continued to play with energy, but tonight we didn’t do that. They were more enthusiastic and played with more energy that we did.”

On USC’s quickness: “They are really quick and that was a real concern of mine coming in. With their athleticism and their length, we had a difficult time keeping them off the boards.”