Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks. Women's basketball are SEC champs, men's basketball rolls, and baseball struggles against our rival. Okay, here we.
[00:00:55] Okay. Welcome to episode three, 302 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. Hope y'all had a great weekend out there. Gamecocks. Ton of action going out there for Gamecock athletics. Tons of stuff going on. So, so exciting to see. And it's getting warmer out there. The vibes are high. Absolutely love it. Can't complain. Hope y'all are ready to seize the week. Have a good week here, and let's have some great vibes out there as a lot of our sports are rolling right now, but we got some that are gearing up for postseason play. Lot of different things going on here to manage. I, of course, am here to shepherd y'all through all that. And, yeah, like I said, it was a busy, busy weekend. Some somewhat of a mixed bag. You know, we're going to unpack it all here. But before I jump into the major sports, let's, of course, go through a weekend recap here. Looking at Saturday, we had equestrian in action. That's right. You know, we. We give everyone their flowers here. Equestrian took on Fresno State and they won 11 to nine. Shout out the equestrian team. Softball was in action Saturday. They beat Duke 4 to 2. Beach volleyball was in action twice. They beat Austin Peay 5 nothing, and then also beat UAB 3 to 2. So a nice Saturday for the Gamecocks. Some people say Saturdays are for the Cox, but I will let y'all decide that because Gamecock athletics just simply tend to roll on Saturday here. Then looking at Sunday here. Softball was back in action against Duke, winning 12 7.
[00:02:55] Men's tennis unfortunately lost to Kentucky 4 2. And women's tennis took on Auburn. Last SEC matchup here, and they won 4 2. So, yes, all told, it was a pretty good weekend from around the athletics department there, especially softball. They are really, really continuing to play at such a high level. It's so fun to see them do that. But sticking to the diamond, you know, there was a big weekend series. Talked a lot about it last episode. It was all over social media and everything like that. As the baseball team took on Clemson was really the first major test for this team. And pulmonary Clemson, they are a team that, you know, talked about it before. They take their. Their baseball seriously. They're probably going to be pretty decently ranked, you know, throughout the year. They're going to be a competitive team in the acc. And it was the first major battle for this team of ours who has good players, has, you know, looked the part so far under Paul Manieri, just playing better than, frankly, we had seen. Right. And undefeated going into this. And look, we all know what happened, but my job here is to talk about it a little bit. I'm not going to dive too deep because it stinks, right? You know, it sucks. You don't want to ever lose to your rival there. The guys got swept, and it's just not what you want to see. It's definitely a little disappointing there. And, you know, I could stand here and scream and shout and things like that.
[00:04:41] That's a good ball club that we faced. We are a ball club that is still coming into its own. It was the, what, third weekend series under Paul Manieri. So it's still a very new culture, a very new vibe in the locker room. And this was by far the toughest competition that this team had faced. And each game, really, if you think about it, maybe with the exception of Sunday, because things kind of got away from us late. Like, each game the team battled, you know, Friday it was five to three, Saturday it was five to one, you know, and then Sunday it was. It was a little bit. It was a little bit further. It was 8 to 2. But when you look at Saturdays and Sundays games, you know, or really Friday and Saturdays, like, these games were close throughout, Carolina battled like these were pitching duels where hitting was at a premium and Carolina was able to hang in there and be within striking distance. It was just right at the end. You just let it get away from you, you know, and that closer role, so to speak, was something that was in question going into this year. And so you are seeing that maybe rear its head a little bit in this series.
[00:06:06] Obviously, the rotation was a little different with SQ not being on Friday. So, you know, there were things in flux.
[00:06:16] I definitely appreciate the battle that the guys had, you know, again, being in striking distance, you know, through eight innings, every single game, more or less, they battled. And I think that that's something that we saw and have seen from this team going into the series where when there was some adversity, you know, they still tended to hang in there and fight. So, look, baseball is a tricky sport. You know, sometimes you feel confident going into a series and you kind of get humbled.
[00:06:49] Team is still nine and three. Obviously, you know, you never want to get swept. And this is a funky series where, you know, it was Ray Tanner, who had the adage, where to be successful in college baseball, you avoid the sweeps on the road, win the series at home. You should be all right.
[00:07:07] This is kind of a weird one, obviously, where it's three different locations, but this is a. This is a tough one, but one that I do think the guys can bounce back from.
[00:07:21] We obviously have to focus up. You know, we're going to be going through the sec. We're going to have some good midweek opponents that are going to be, you know, competitive as well.
[00:07:32] And so you just have to look forward. You know, it sucks to lose to your rival.
[00:07:36] You really would have liked to have taken one of them, especially at home.
[00:07:42] It just wasn't in the cards, you know. So, again, if we're going to look at this from a positive, not positive, we're going to find the silver lining in this. I would say that it's the guys battled. They were hanging tough in every single game, more or less.
[00:07:58] You know, that's important. You know, it wasn't a deal where we just got absolutely cooked right.
[00:08:07] On the other hand, maybe this kind of shows you that, okay, like, this team does have some gaps here and we had some concerns and some question marks going into the season, roster wise, maybe this show is a little bit of that. And so Paul Manner is going to have a job to do. And that's why you bring in a veteran, accomplished coach like him, because he's seen it all. He's dealt with tough sweeps, he's dealt with losses to rivals. He's going to know what to say to the guys and how to refocus them, and that's all you can do, you know, so looking forward, you got. You got two chances this week to get things right. The guys are back in action Tuesday. I like that. It's right away, almost one day. Shake it off. You're back in action. Founders park against Davidson Tuesday night, and then right after that, the Citadel in Charleston.
[00:09:07] That's always kind of a funky game. You know, it has been at least the last couple of years. It's been close. I feel like. So handle your business in the midweek games.
[00:09:18] Get that good feeling back. And, you know, you have another weekend before you're talking SEC competition. So refocus this week. If we can really handle business in the five games we have this week and really get some momentum going into next, that would be huge.
[00:09:42] So that's. That's the focus. If I'm Paul Monary, that's the focus in. In my fandom. Right now. Yes. It sucks to lose to your rival. Is it concerning that you couldn't quit quite get over that hump there? You couldn't quite close the door? Yes.
[00:09:56] Let's shake it off. Let's see how the guys can roll through this weekend and then we'll talk about next weekend as it gets to SEC competition.
[00:10:06] But moving away from the diamond and onto the hardwood, it was a fun weekend for Gamecock basketball. I mean, I haven't said this in a long time. Fun.
[00:10:20] It was wild. So we'll start with the guys here. The. The Q Zips. We're back to the Q Zips. They were in action Saturday afternoon against Arkansas. And for the first time all season, I can say that the guys rolled.
[00:10:37] They stomped an SEC team, beating Arkansas 72 to 53. Colin Murray Boyles is Superman.
[00:10:48] My goodness. I mean, the whole team like just jumped out on Arkansas in the first half. Like kind of unlike anything we've seen. You know, we saw it against Texas. It was a strong first half.
[00:11:03] This was just jumped on them. They kind of how we've gotten jumped in the first half of multiple times this year.
[00:11:10] And I talked before this game, you know, going into it, Arkansas had kind of a funky year where they've had some good wins, where they've had some bad losses. Their record was kind of a bubble team, right?
[00:11:27] They might not be on the bubble anymore. They might be on the outside looking in thanks to the Gamecocks.
[00:11:32] You know, I mean, and so things obviously not obviously, but things leveled off in the second half. It was more competitive. The shooting cooled for South Carolina a lot compared to the first half. But you're able to hit your free throws incredibly well down the stretch.
[00:11:54] You know, you're shooting efficiently from the field throughout the entire game.
[00:12:01] You got some decent contributions from the bench. I'd like to see a little bit more, if I'm being totally honest.
[00:12:08] And you know, it was just one of those deals where South Carolina came out ready to play, jumped on Arkansas. Probably a little shock to the system, but it was Colin Murray Boyles who was the absolute superman of this game.
[00:12:24] 35 points and 7 rebounds. Incredible, single handedly, pretty much leading this team to this monster victory. And good for him. You know, he has played hard every single game. I mean, this team has.
[00:12:41] But man, he came out and was a monster and would not be denied.
[00:12:49] Nick Pringle complimenting things with 18 points. I mean, that's your duo right there. That's what I've been screaming from the rooftop that you need to see. Not necessarily saying I need to see 35 points, but I'll certainly take it.
[00:13:03] So really, really fun afternoon. Gamecock men's basketball. Two SEC wins now. You know, we were begging, scratching and clawing to try and get one. Now we got two. It's not how you start, it's how you finish. Am I right? Absolutely. But I mean, look at that. You know, you got two teams in Texas and Arkansas that you would now beat.
[00:13:29] Are they the top of the sec? No. Are they bottom feeders also? No. You know, middle of the road sec. Like good, talented teams, South Carolina is able to beat them with a roster that has been talked about in various forums that is just comparatively just not quite up to par in the sec. So that's a kudos again to I think Lamont Paris having his guys buy in throughout these struggles and for all the players on that roster to not give up and to go out and play hard and playing hard in front of the home crowd with these wins. So really, really cool to see.
[00:14:11] Up next for the Gamecocks, we're coming down stretch here. Two games left. The guys will play Tuesday night against UGA at home. UGA is 18 and 11. Again, a team that middle of the pack type of deal, right, where maybe, just maybe the guys can hang in there. If we're going to say a crow to the game, it's what we just saw. It's Colin Murray, Boyles and Nick Pringle dominating, leading the team 1:2 in points and then having everything else fall into place from there. I mean, obviously if you can jump out to a 20 or 30 point lead in the first half, that helps too. But seriously, big kudos to the guys.
[00:14:56] But then moving to the other side of things for women's basketball, their season finale, regular season finale against Kentucky, the ladies handled their business. They did their job, beating Kentucky 78, 66.
[00:15:13] This was a great win for, for the team. The ladies got out to a lead in the first quarter.
[00:15:21] You know, it was a close back and forth a little bit there. Kentucky is a decent team, but in the fourth quarter, South Carolina was really able to put things away. Not that it was ever too in doubt, but you wanted to get things away from being a little too close for comfort here. I liked what we saw up and down from the team here. You had Tahina powpow 13 points, Chloe kits with 12, Tessa with 16. Love to see that she could be a player for us similar to last year. We're down the stretch and in the postseason she is someone who if can get going, makes life difficult for all the opponents there. And Malaysia had 10 points there. But the story out of this game is that South Carolina won and claimed at least a share of the SEC regular season title. And it was waiting on to see what Texas did. And Texas did their job and they defeated Florida, which led to a tie because the Gamecock split the season series with Texas. So it came down to a coin flip.
[00:16:30] That's right. We talked about this last episode. But the SEC's official rule in that scenario is that a coin flip would decide the SEC regular season champion.
[00:16:47] And luck be a lady tonight because the Gamecocks won the coin flip. And are the SEC Regular season champions 4th year going? I believe it is just great to see. I mean, it's really cool because regardless, right, your co champs. And again, this was a testament to just how good of a season the ladies have had. It's still going, right? But there were some bumps in the road. But every time South Carolina, Don Staley was able to pick this team up off the mat and get right, you know, Kentucky, number 15 in the country, that's. That's. That. That's not a slouch team.
[00:17:33] And you beat him by 12 points.
[00:17:36] So then you earn that regular season title and thus will be the number one seed for this weekend's SEC tournament in Greenville, I should say this week, but I believe South Carolina won't play until Friday. We'll. We'll know their opponent then type of deal. Right. Because the double buys and things of that nature. So all to say, it was a fantastic way to end the regular season for Don Staley and company. It was a regular season that was a little different than what we've seen in the past couple of years, really, where there was more adversity than we've seen. You know, we've seen, you know, maybe a loss here or, you know, obviously not last season. Right. But like, maybe on the road, you know, you dropped one, but there were a couple of losses this year. There was one shocking loss at home. And again, each time, Don Staley got her team off the mat and rallied the troops to play well.
[00:18:43] And that's the sign of a good coach. That's a sign of a team that. That is bought in where, you know, this sport is deeper than I think it's ever been.
[00:18:54] And we have a really, really good roster. We have a roster that can hang with anyone. We have a roster that can beat anyone.
[00:19:01] But teams are better than ever. And we are an imperfect team.
[00:19:08] But I think Don has this team ready to go. I think you're going to see veterans like Pow Pow Kits and others start to elevate their game as we turn into the postseason now.
[00:19:23] And I do think that especially if we're looking at the NCAA tournament, whatever seed we end up with, there's going to be a little bit of the intimidation factor in those early rounds. And so if we can get a little momentum, you never know what can happen. So hopefully this team can make a run, but we'll talk about that later. First things first, enjoy being SEC champions via the coin flip. I love it. And then let's get ready to play on Friday in in the league tournament. That's always a good time. There's been some fantastic moments and interesting moments from that tournament. I will of course preview that next episode, but with that, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media Twitter or X is Cox Gamecox. Instagram is just the name of the show. Cox Talking Gamecocks. And please like subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'all. Go Cox.
