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>> dave: the south carolina faithful have seen some big wins in this building. they are looking for another tonight as the gamecocks play host to the florida gates in the colonial life arena. in terms of the sec standings, you see the gators and the gamecocks fourth and fifth respectively in the eastern division. south carolina has to make noise not only in the east divisio,n, but on the national scene, as well. good evening, everybody. dave neal alongside with my partner, joe. joe, we just saw the standings. tell me about the importance of this game for these two clubs and their two head coaches. >> mark: florida is playing well. this is a road opportunity game for them. darrin horn told his team today this is a must-win. if you want to play in the big dance in march, you have to beat the top teams at home. >> dave: let's see if they can pull it off. let's look at the florida lineup that doesn't feature a single senior in the starting five. chandler parson making his eighth consecutive start.

in his previous starts the gators have gone 6-1. >> and the guy playing so well as their point guard, erving walker, leading the league in three-point shooting. he will be matched up with devan downey tonight. and devan downey will be in the starting five. once again for south carolina. the lineup features a couple of seniors, but south carolina is playing with sam muldrow. and let's go to the south carolina star watch. >> dave: no doubt who that is. i believe at 31 points a game in conference play, he is tonight the leading candidate for sec player of the year. >> dave: all right. florida in their road blues and south carolina wearing their gray uniforms tonight. an energetic crowd. these fans believe in darrin horn's gamecocks. down's first shot from the corner, no good. >> joe: florida starts out in a zone defense tonight, dave. a 1-2-2 zone with erving walker on the point. why would they do this hear on the road?

they are going to try to hem up the penetration of devan downey and not let him get to the game tonight. >> dave: a good crew working tonight, tony green, mike nance and bert smith. and muldrow, his first shot is a rather easy one, a flush. >> joe: that's a breakdown right there early by the florida zone, allowing the ball to drive right into the lane area. draw the big man up and pass it to the baseline for the easy duck. >> dave: boynton nearly got caught up in the air. >> joe: south carolina starts man-to-man. >> dave: the turnover. gives it back to south carolina. billy donovan, what a good job he's done in his 14th season in gainsville. >> joe: i asked him how is your family? he said, joe, today is billy

junior's 18th birthday for happy birthday to billy donovan jr. he's going to catholic university in washington, d.c. next year to play college basketball. >> dave: good for him a nice balanced shot. that goes down, a 4-0 lead. right back come the gators to cut it in half. erving averaging 13 a game, fourth in the conference this assists, as well. >> joe: erving walker can do a lot of the same things as devan downey does for south carolina. a good match-up with those two tonight. >> dave: muldrow, to the basket. won't go. tyus grabs his second rebound. here's walker. the bounce pass. underneath to m.a.a.c. his little jump hook is short.

battle, loose ball. the arrow will favor the florida gators. >> joe: south carolina going against the zone u see the nice penetration by lakeem jackson. that's a great individual effort on the baseline against the 6'9" parsons. a tough shot but he got it to go. >> dave: macklin, underneath to parsons. nice shot. a little english on it. >> joe: that's the versatility of chandler parsons, the 6'9" jr. we've seen him knock down long shots, big, three-point shots. but 6'9" with the long armss he can go inside and he can score in the low post area. >> dave: downey, that's a two!

>> dave: a foul against south carolina. macklin was going up for the shot. darrin horn now in his second season as the head coach here at south carolina. as he was telling us today. this is all about building a program. and he's just in phase two of that. >> joe: you know, he led south carolina to share the eastern division championship last year, dave. only the second time since they went to divisional play since 1992. one of the most things he's most proud of, he's 3-0 against the kentucky wildcats, his hometown school. >> dave: by lexington. >> joe: i saw him play in high school. telling my age a little bit. >> dave: a rebound to macklin. so far the florida zone has been effective. you can hold your opponent to only one shot. the zone can cause problems.

here's downey, where he is so dangerous. raley-ross, and stolen by baniulis. now the numbers for the team in blue. boynton, a quick shot. and the follow by parsons. >> joe: that's what you want to do, shoot the three-point shot in transition because the defense is scrambling back in transition defensively, and it allows for offensive rebounding. chandler parsons, nobody touched him. he went all the way down the baseline and flushed it home. >> dave: downey nearly stripped in the corner by raley-ross. he will back it out. not a threat, more of a flasher. boy,we see chandler parsons already doing just about everything for this gator team. >> joe: 6'9", long arms, great hands, plays like a guard level

see him play the point position tonight because of his ballhandling skills. versatile around the basket. >> dave: and he steps on the turnover. and we haven't played five full minutes. but chandler parsons elevating for the two! time-out on the floor. florida leads it by a single digit.

>> dave: we know the edge that makes the south carolina team run is devan downey, a 9'". you can say the same about walker of florida. averaging just shy of 13 points a game overall. you see what he's done in conference play, joe. amazing, 16.2 points a game. >> joe: you know, dave, he's a big game player and a guy who really plays to the competition. obviously the sec much tougher than when he played in the nonconference. he has come to play every night very gritty, tough, made a game-winner tuscaloosa, and alabama a week ago. they love this kid. >> dave: galloway checks in. jefferson is also on the floor. he wears 32 for the gamecocks. and the turnover will give it back to florida. >> joe: so far the florida zone has done exactly what it's designed to do, and that is shut

down bullpen drags. brandis raley-ross had the one penetration early that got the dunk but since then they have hemmed up the guards, and held them to one rebound. >> dave: the baseline jumper goes down. alex averaging about 13 points a game, 7 rebounds, shooting 52% from the floor. >> joe: going to a 2-3 zone. >> dave: boynton, erving walker out front. florida holding the gamecocks to only one shot because that's always the danger after zone, is not having blockout responsibility. they are losing the rebounding battle 9-1, the gamecocks. >> joe: there you go. >> dave: another steal for downey. give him 323. behind the back, lakeem jackson.

devan downey, over 300 career steals. amazing. the alley oop to parsons, and he went over jefferson to get it done! >> joe: we had a little trash talking earlier when parsons stepped out-of-bounds against the press. and that time he dunked over the young, inexperienced jefferson and said a word to him on the way back. >> dave: here's parsons back the other way. boynton fires, got it! the gators in transition are at their best. >> joe: and how about chandler parsons running the past break at 6'9" on the dribble, getting it to the lane and kicking it back out, and kenny boynton, a streaky three-point shooter, that's a big one for florida.

>> dave: galloway, a freshman. here's downey. the pull-up jumper, that's a two. that's good. devan downey now with a couple of baskets and four points. >> joe: billy donovan will live with that. as he was driving to the lane, they were on him but they didn't allow time hymn to get all the way to the lane area, forcing him to the pull-up. >> dave: parsons at the elbow. left is short. tyus had his hands on it. downey comes away with the rebound. downey, pull-up three. that's off the mark. boy, it is one and done for south carolina. >> joe: a great job of rebounding on the offensive board. an emphasis with billy donvan with the zone. >> dave: how about that. you don't see that very often unless you are playing my church league. >> joe: numbers here,

two-on-one. >> dave: galloway, forcing the gators to pull it out for a moment. m.a.a.c. that was blocked by geoff. a double dribble. and it will belong to the gamecocks! ics downey, the great steals leader in the sec. the two-on-one and the finish by lakeem jackson at the other end. great job by downey. and then you see the nice lobby erving walker. look at chandler parsons. plays the point, goes inside and plushes home alley oop. >> dave: werner checks in for the gators. his first action tonight. stephen spinella will pull up and fire. that won't go but the follow certainly does by big sam muldrow! >> joe: that's what happens when you press. you run the risk of opening up the defense in recovery back to the half-court area. florida was out of synch.

no blockout, and sam muldrow, a great job on the boards. >> dave: first offensive rebound of the game for the gamecocks. the shot clock dips under 15. here's., guarded by galloway. two freshmen going at it. back to werner. a long three. the gators lead by two with a time-out on the floor. but they pulled within two because sam muldrow goes flying through the air for the put back! /

hi ♪stlie) ♪("worrappy >> dave: florida on the road leading by aware. sam muldrow with a follow-up dunk a moment ago. three straight games with double figure rebounding, including a career-high 16 in the loss

against tennessee over the weekend. he's the guy that darrin horn says we are just kind of tapping into his possession. >> joe: that's right. he talk about the fact that he's getting better. he's an honor student, a real smart kid. you see he's second in the league in blocks. he needs to score inside for south carolina to give them support help for devan downey up front, dave. >> dave: sam will catch his breath for a moment. >> joe: 1/2 out of the time-out they are man-to-man. they played zone through the two tv time-outs, and now back man-to-man. we will watch the match-up. of course, downey out of the game right now. that's a plus if you are going to play man-to-man against the gamecocks. >> dave: spinella gets it to galloway. as you steve back on the floor. the pull-up jumper off the mark. so without muldrow and without downey, you've lost quite a bit of offense. there's the steal. there's steed.

the finger roll was good! austin steed averaging just 3 1/2 points a game. >> joe: and against south carolina leads the sec in steals. darrin horn wants to use his defense to create some easy offensive opportunities. we've seen that here early in the first half. >> dave: shipman will back it out to werner. mcclanahan, back to shipman. the pull-up jumper, friendly iron on the road for ray shipman. >> joe: bonus points if ray shipman can come in and make some shots for billy donovan's team. he's more of a lock-down defender. the steal. >> dave: right on cue. it's a three-on-one. >> joe: got to give it up. >> dave: and shipman took it too far into austin steed. he drew the charge. >> joe: you have to play both ends of the floor. great job defensively on that end making the steal, but you've got to widen out, fred out. you see the steal here and create a two-on-one opportunity.

give the basketball up in this situation. he tried to keep it. ran over the top of the south carolina player. not a good decision. >> dave: that is turnover number nine. werner gets it right back. shipman with the reverse lay-up. >> joe: just what i'm talking about. werner created the two-on-one. the jump stop, bounce pass. made the pass on the two-on-one for the easy lay-up. >> dave: spinella, blocked by tyus. jefferson, his jump hook won't go. tyus grabs rebound. downey is back at the table getting ready to check in for south carolina. >> joe: south carolina has switched -- no, they are staying man-to-man. they showed zone, but back man. >> dave: boynton, boy is that a tough shot, right over raley-ross. >> joe: he has a funny delivery but he's such a good athlete he has the will to get the balls

in. only shooting 20% from three but a scorer, slasher, and a tremendous freshman for the gators. >> dave: every second that ticks off the clock is good news for florida because devan downey can't check in. with that, that will allow downey to get back on the floor. a foul against shipman. that will be his second. >> joe: yeah, watch werner. the bounce pass, easy lay-up right there for shipman. a great job defensively, and then alex tyusious, the rejection in the lane area. a great job. he comes down with a defensive board. that's as good as with gets. he's a junior from st. louis and getting better and better, like some of the other gators. a couple years ago we talked about how young they were. >> dave: i saw the numbers. 4 out of 16 from the floor after the quick start by south carolina. you mentioned dan werner, statly not big numbers but coach donovan can't say enough about the good things he provides for his club.

steve blocked again by tyus. and alex tyus, 6'8", playing that power forward. actually playing in the 5-spot right now without m.a.a.c. most the season he plays the four position. downey, his little teardrop triples over the rim. >> joe: you are so afraid you are going to foul him and put him on the line. that's what happened with courtney fortson at arkansas, same thing. off tendency to back away from him and even though he's 5'9", he can get those ball necessary over the big people in the lane. >> dave: spinella picked up his first foul. downey is an 83% foul shooter and he has been to the free-throw line 141 times. >> joe: that's what i'm saying. he's so slippery. he gets in there and uses his body to draw contact. a very smart player getting to the line. so the coaches that go against him say we don't want to foul him. >> dave: walker buries the three. erving walker, 37% free-throw

shooter, 51 threes on the year. >> joe: back to the two-three zone are the gators. you change defenses. when downey is in they zone to try to hem him up, keep him out of the lane. >> dave: biggest lead of the game right now for florida. downey, that's a two. way off the mark. steed for the follow. >> joe: they do a good job stopping downey up front but the defensive rebounding in a don't is always suspect, and that time the gamecocks got to the glass and put it back. >> dave: parsons, he's jest shot he shot -- the easiest shot he'll have all night. against pressure always look are not home run over the top of the zone. if the zone cheats up to try to make the steal, go over the top and try to lay it in. the gators executed that beautifully that time. >> joe: they won't guard jackson on that wing. >> dave: jackson hasn't attempted a three-point shot

since the eighth game of the season. >> joe: and hasn't made one all year. >> dave: he was 0 for 8. gets to the lane. muldrow with the follow. parsons, nice stutter step. walker will try another three. that's number two for erving walker. >> joe: and chandler parsons made that play driving the ball down the baseline, avoiding the charge and kicking it right out. walker wide open and got the kind roll. now they are going to move downey to the wing and see if he can find some creases from that area of the floor. not getting them out front against boynton and walk. muldrow, his jump hook off the window. if he can make that shot, you can't stop it. >> dave: no. and darrin horn told us that today, that they need scoring help from muldrow inside,

raley-ross outside to compliment the great play of devan downey. muldrow with 8 points to lead south carolina four out of six from the field. boy, erving walker trying to shake downey. that's a tough task, but he's done so. now parsons. back to walker. looking for his third triple. he may have to get it from the free-throw line. >> joe: yep. >> dave: spinella fouls erving walker on the three-point attempt. so the gators will have three free business when we come back. chandler parsons with the assist to walker.

>> dave: florida leading by 6. 5:28 to go the opening half.

florida has done a good job on break the south carolina press that's been set up after so many made baskets. >> joe: you are right, dave, they have. anytime you see a trap coming at you, you want to keep your head up. watch erving walker keep his head up and not panic when the trap comes. the weak side forward is cheating up, number one, spinella, to make the steal and that allowed the over-the-top pass, over-the-top press to parsons for the easy layup. >> dave: parsons, somebody lit a fire under him tonight. he's playing like a man possessed out there, doing a little bit of everything for florida. >> joe: sometimes players don't really understand how good they are. i think chandler parsons could be one of those guys. he's now a junior and one guy he wakes up and says, you know, i'm pretty good dad-gum good. he's 6'9", we've seen him dunk and alley oop, he can drive and

get assists. >> dave: the two buzzer-beaters he had. does that have an impact? >> joe: no doubt about it. he watches the plays on sport center, what have you, and i think it's a maturity factor. he's a junior. he has been around the block for three years now. he's finally woken up and said, look, i'm as good as anybody in this league. that's the mentality you have to have, dave, to be a great player >> dave: baniulis on the floor for south carolina. raley-ross guarded. florida stays in the zone. >> joe: there's a mismatch on the weak side when the ball comes to the right wing. boynton trying to block out muldrow. >> dave: raley-ross knocked down his first shot after missing his first three from the field. >> joe: in the earlier game in gainsville, devan downey scored 36 of his team's 56 points. they need raley-ross to make shots like he just did there.

>> dave: there's downey in the open floor. back the other way he comes. that lay-up won't go. tapped out of there. werner had it for a moment. raley-ross draws the contact. werner picks up his first foul of the game. but, boy, devan downey, watching him and just play the game of basketball from end to end. defensively, offensively, he is a rare commodity. >> joe: on the defensive end he's like a nat. he's after you all the time. you can't shake him away. he has quick hands. i'll tell you something else, and i know you would agree, he's second all-time in south carolina history, and who would forget the great chuck etson. but you would agree with this, you have been around him a lot the last couple years, a very intelligent young man.

studies the game, watches films and talks to his coaches about how he can get better and that's why he's so good. >> dave: i asked him today, is there anybody that has slowed you down? he said what do you think i said there's nobody. and he said chris lawrence is pretty good at ole mix but nobody has slowed me down. >> joe: right. he hasn't played courtney fortson yet. >> dave: that's next week. >> joe: i believe that game is on the espn network. that will be a good one. >> dave: florida has to take a quick time-out with 12 seconds on the shot clock and 4-22 on the game clock. well, confident came in here with so many big accolades, number one team in the country, came in here a few weeks ago and, well, south carolina did a number to the top-ranked team in america, winning their first game against the number one team. they were 0-7 previously. and champion apparel will be showcasing the history of the sec tonight. we go back to that team, and

what a game devan downey put on. >> joe: the crossover dribble, and you just can't guard him one-on-one. you have to have support help around him. he gets all wait to the basket. he uses either hand around the goal to protect against the shot blockers. very, very smart player, as i said, and just understands the crease necessary the defense and how to take advantage. >> dave: one of his six 30-plus performance necessary the sec this season. six of eight conference games he scored 30 or more. >> joe: that's amazing. >> dave: and bump, and it won't go. coming up for devan downey. >> joe: you know, there's a case where he actually initiated the contact, as you see his numbers career-wise. number one in steals all-time, and you see points and assists way up. but that time he drove it all the way to the lane. erving walker was not even trying to guard him, but erving was out of position and downey

initiated the contact. he knew the referee would call the foul there, and now he's he foul line. >> dave: gets the free throws to go. those steals we show you on the graphics, the south carolina numbers, throw in his one year at cincinnati, his career steals up over 320 now. downey tonight, 3 of 8 from the field, 8 points. >> joe: the zone, dave. the zone has really done a nice job of hemming him up when he has been effective it's been off steals or on the fast break. >> dave: mcclanahan, a baseline reverse lay-up for you. a four-point game lead. >> joe: billy donovan harps on assist. that was his forte as a player in providence when he went to the final four. he wants the assist numbers to be up. they all look for one another constantly on the floor. >> dave: ten assists, 134 made baskets for florida -- 13 made baskets for florida. >> joe: there you go.

case in point. >> dave: with downey out, the gators go back man-to-man. >> joe: interesting move by billy donovan. >> dave: tyus. alex tyus hanging with it. he kisses it off the window. six for tyus. >> joe: he's improved so much. he and chandler parsons, both juniors now, have matured and improved so much for the gators while they are having an outstanding season. >> dave: galloway. that's a tough shot for a freshman. played a couple years of high school basketball at palm beach, florida but grew up in the philadelphia area.

here's parsons. raley-ross gets it to muldrow. he will face up on macklin. i think the gators will live with muldrow taking those shots all night. >> joe: they will. but south carolina still needs to go in to muldrow. they need him to improve, and gain confidence down there scoring in the low post. >> dave: the star watch update. walker leading the way with 9 to downey's 8. that's a big-time block by sam muldrow. sam muldrow, second in the conference in blocks now with 77. raley-ross misfires. here's boynton, back the other way. hangs the air, offensive foul! time-out on the floor. 1:38 to play in the half. florida leads it by 4.

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>> dave: florida leading south carolina on the sec network. first half basketball. coming up, the halftime report. we will get joe's thoughts on the dean's list. this week we will focus on players under six feet tall, and there are quite a few of them. you and i were talking about darrin horn a moment ago. we watched this club, they are depleted a couple play >> joe: bemeant really changed his style of go get embasketball. >> joe: i don't think enough has been made of the incredible job darrin horn has done. he lost an all-sec performer, dominique archie, to a torn acl. he had to dismiss mike holmes for disciplinary reasons, and without two key starters, continues to win and play that style, dave, that you talked about.

i think darrin horn deserves a lot of credit for that. >> dave: i asked him about the mentality of the club, is it us against the world? he said, you know what, i think our guys have kind of approached it that way. out of the time-out, the gators back zone. again, when devan downey is in the game, they are going to zone and make sure that with their guards they keep two guys on him to keep him out of that lane. the key, rebounding and tyus has done a great job, as have the gators on the backboards in the first half. >> joe: tyus, 8 rebounds, parsons 7 rebounds. >> dave: by the way, south carolina, 0 for 9 from behind the arc in the opening half. werner, four on the shot clock. good patience by florida. tyus with the lay-in. >> joe: you attack the zone in the heart, in the middle, at the foul line. werner right there cut, made the play, that collapsed the defense around him at the foul line, dropped off the night bounce pass for the lay-up for tyus.

beautifully executed zone offense by billy donovan's team. darrin horn wants a 30-second time-out with 9 second on the shot clock, is it 12.4 on the game clock. >> joe: the middle of the zone the floor is open. see the four shirts around werner right there and that opens up the baseline pass for alex tyus, one of the senior smart players, and the execution by the florida zone offense very effective, attacking right in the heart of zone. >> dave: i was look at some of the heroes in the first half for florida. erving walker, 9 points, assists. you have tyus, 6 points, 8 rebounds. and chandler parsons 8 points, 7 rebounds. there's a lot of direction and a

lot of guys involved for florida as they lead by 6. >> joe: they have had a good year. 17-6 overall. 6-3 in the league. they have won six of their last seven games, dave. and the one loss was a one-point heartbreaker in knoxville, tennessee when alex tyus missed a five-foot wide open bank shot that would have won that game. >> dave: hears downey. he pulls up. seven on the game clock. off the mark. where will it go? how about south carolina with one more chance. >> joe: florida has done an excellent job, donovan on downey on the first half. hemmed him up with the zone defense. taking their chances on the outside shot. >> dave: downey just 8 points. with one second left, muldrow. that shot is waived off, but sam muldrow will lead everybody with ten points. erving walker, 9 points, three assists, a couple

three-pointers. florida shoots 68% from the field. devan downey, 8 points, 3 of 9 from the floor. well below his season average. he's also averaging 31 against league play. come back with our halftime activities so stay with us on e s n.

>> arkansas, four straight. they are hot. they have lsu tonight. in the east obviously the better league. that's pretty clear. >> well, when you begin to look at some of the teams and their success stories, one of the clubs we saw there a moment ago, arkansas has gotten back on the map simply because of the addition, the reemergence of courtney fortson, who played the last nine games after being suspended for a little bit. what a difference one guy can make to your team. >> joe: he has been unbelievable, dave. not only in play making and assists, but defensively. and he's put up some huge numbers. 35 against montana state, 24 last saturday in a win against auburn. >> dave: he's one of those smaller guys in the league you kind of got your eye on. >> joe: as a former 5'11" point guard, i love the little guys. two here tonight, we are enjoying watching devan downey and erving walker. two tremendous players.

chris warren is having a great game at ole miss shooting the ball. but the guy we talked about who is emerging as one of the stars in this league is courtney fortson at arkansas. he's led the hogs to four straight wins. >> dave: a big schedule of games coming up on saturday on the sec network. lsu will take on vanderbilt and nashville. south carolina will travel to athens a tough place to play. and arkansas and alabama. when we come back to the colorado cool here in columbia w we will take a look at scores going on in the conference. stay with us on the sec conference.

>> dave: welcome back to the cellular halftime report. both clubs still in the locker room. the florida gators have done a nice job on the row. they lead south carolina by 4. a couple other games going on around the southeastern conference tonight. arkansas pounding lsu by 20. they haven't even got to halftime. come up a little later it will be auburn and georgia from the loveliest village on the plains. you know, i have had a chance to do georgia four or five times already this year, and even though georgia is still struggling, just a couple league wins, i'm impressed with what mark fox has done with this team. nobody in this conference wants to play the bulldogs. >> you are right. they have played everybody tough them went to rupp arena and gave the wildcats all they wanted. and mark fox has done a

tremendous job with that team. i have talk to travis leslie. probably the most improved player in the conference. >> dave: georgia's only big time loss was to the florida gators. other than that, they have been either tied or one possession within one minute left of tieing the game up. that's how good they have been down the stretch. let's take a look at other stores from around the country. tell you what, syracuse and uconn going at it. the cuse, they are a good basketball team. look for them to compete for a national title when it's all said and done. >> joe: we watch the florida gators use the zone tonight and that's what syracuse does so well. >> dave: you look at iowa state, all over indiana. coming up later, north carolina, boy, that would be a good win if they can take down duke with all the struggles the tar heels have had this season. well, our halftime activity, i tried to get joe to do that during the break, but he said no. he's afraid of heights, i guess.

back in a moment.

>> dave: continuing on with florida and south carolina at halftime on the sec network. we are back with the halftime report. florida shooting 68% in the first half and played solid defense, as well. i think you have to go right out of the gate and said they played good defense on devan downey, and in turn is good defense on the gamecocks. >> joe: they held devan downey down to 3 of 9 shooting and made everything tough for him. we see the first-half highlights, walker knocked down the three. he was the story offensively for the gators. there we go. there we go. we got it. there we go. >> dave: let's try it one more time. >> joe: it was so pretty the first time, let's do it again. erving walker, ladies and gentlemen! and then against the trap, over the top, the assist by walker to the junior chandler parsons, who had a nice first half. it's the one time that downey was able to get inside.

but sam muldrow is the guy who has played well, 10 points in the first half, scoring inside against the gators and off the transition watch the offensive rebound by muldrow. a little stuff-a-reno for the gamecocks. >> dave: you look at the first-half stats brought to you by crystal. nothing like it. erving walker, 9 points, good, solid balance from florida. sam muldrow with a huge 10 points in the first half, 5 of 9 from the floor. sam muldrow also with 4 rebounds, as well. so a pretty good first half for florida. they can use a little extra for south carolina, but if you are in the south carolina locker room, what is your thought process and where do you go to get back in it. >> joe: you have to solve the defense. florida has found something in he trying to hem up devan downey. they have done a great job on him. they have to get scoring from raley-ross on the outside.

muldrow and steed tonight inside. that's key and defensively they have six steals, they want to continue to apply the pressure in the backcourt defensively. >> dave: and florida has done a good job handling the basketball. 11 assists in the first half on 15 made baskets. the gators shoot 68%, just 37% for the south carolina gamecocks. an amazing stunt. that got the crowd on their feast we will see in the gamecocks can do it.

>> dave: take a look at the team stats the first 20 minutes. the gators have shot well, just 7 missed shots. >> joe: dave, you are 15 of 22, you are leading on the boards but you are only up four points that. good news and bad news for the gators. that gives south carolina hope because darrin horn told them in the locker room, guys, if we can keep them from shooting that well in the second half we are very much in this game. >> dave: darrin horn told us on the tennessee game they got thumped. he said he felt good about the chance bus tennessee came out in the first three minutes of the second half and put it to his club. it will be interesting to see how the gamecocks respond here. >> joe: well, the coaches will tell you all the time, the first five minutes of the second half is the key to the game. it sets the tone. we will watch on both sides how each team comes out of the locker room. florida stays in the 2-3 zone.

>> dave: raley-ross, muldrow with the rebound. five boards for sam now. >> joe: again, the zone defense does not have set blockout responsibilities man on man. that's the weakness in the zone. >> dave: macklin. we didn't mention a lot in the first half. he comes up with the take away. here's parsons. we mentioned his name quite a bit. he lays it up and in. chandler with ten. >> joe: you can get to the board, he's tall enough to rise over anyone and finish the play. chandler parsons, great job. >> dave: boynton will slide down, defend devan downey. he pushes tyus back to the baseline, which is key for rebounding for florida. muldrow, shot clock down to 6. sam work on tyus. that's a tough shot. got it to go.

>> joe: like devin horn told us this morning, dave, he is just continuing to get better. i mean, we could watch him with our own eyes tonight emerge, improve. he's showing more maturity and confidence, especially when he gets the ball down low. >> dave: there's the slip. tyus, and a foul against south carolina. austin steed picks up the f s

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>> dave: south carolina trails by 4. glad you are with us on the sec network. billy donovan talked about things you need to do offensively, things you need to do defensively if you want to be successful and one of the things is you have to have a pretty marginal rebound margin. and tonight, plus 4. >> joe: again, they have done it out of zone, which is the most important thing. alex tyus, he and chandler parsons each 11 rebounds for tyus and 8 for parsons. that's very impressive at this stage of the game. >> dave: here's walker. >> joe: they will trap the on-ball screen. you trap the on-ball screen and zone behind it it protect the lane. doing a nice job executing that. >> dave: here's parsons. faces up on spinella. chandler, to the basket. swatted out of there by

s, it wil oint guard. >> joe: at 6'9" he will go up and try to flush it home over 6'9" johndre jefferson. a young man who came with last year's all-sec performance. lake powell high school under steve cone, they won a state championship. i asked downey with the chemistry of the team with him

gone. in some respects they may be playing better without him, and i don't mean that negatively against nick because he was a great player, but he was a guy that dominated the ball. the gators are looking to move it a little more without him. >> dave: erik murphy with the offensive rebound. fouled on the way up. he will have some free throws coming up. >> joe: excuse me, dave. i watched erik murphy today in the shootaround. they ran a lot of big-man drills with the assistant coaches. he shows some good moves foot-work wise. he has big hands and a nice job. billy donovan thinks he will be a good player for the gators, especially inside. 6'9", dad jay murphy played at boston college and played a number of years in the nba. >> dave: the gators at the free-throw line, now 4 of 11. they came in the second-best free-throw shooting team in the conference at over 71%.

muldrow, working on murphy. raley-ross finally gets it to go! his first three in seven tries. walker, fouled by downey. he says it was on the floor, but they will give him two shots. you are looking at three-point shots there. the gators 3 of 7. south carolina 2 of 15. raley-ross just his one. devan downey made one earlier here in the second half. they were 0-for in the first and certainly against the florida zone, they need to knock down some zone busters from the outside, otherwise the gators will stay in that zone, dave, and challenge the gamecocks shooters from the outside.

>> dave: six-point game. 9 of the last 11 meetings between these clubs decided by 6 points or less. looks like we are headed that same direction tonight, as muldrow, with 14.7 rebounds. >> joe: nice jump shot. i continue to be impressed with the improvement of sam muldrow. >> dave: murphy inside. >> joe: that's what i'm talking about. they worked it with him today around the basket, inside moves, using the glass. and erik murphy right there with a big offensive baseline play for the gators. >> dave: galloway, off the mark. shipman with the rebound. off to walker. nice ball work over devan downey. boynton will try for three.

here's downey. walker almost stripped it away from him. devan downey, having a rough go of it. but the man can get going at any second. he's got 11 tonight. he will need more in the gone want to come bac back mom uth ,

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fn 7 n. th of e "sy" g opepionnce and the u.s. chship? 780ion. e o rofel goavin a ciagnith ? 1 in erls eges tn ths ofm tism.org >> dave: you are looking at devan downey. he has been held in check tonight. his low point total in sec action was 25 points against the old miss rebels. remember, he told me before the game today, the one guy that was probably as quick as he's seen is chris warren. he said warren didn't slow him down, but he was one of the quicker guys. and i said are you sure? he said no, no,'s not slowing me down.

>> joe: he hasn't seen courtney fortson yet. courtney fortson is quick as a hiccup. he plays ping-pong by himself. but i tell you, the zone defense has been the answer tonight. and you know he had 36 on the gators in gainsville. billy donovan, nice adjustment defensively. and if raley-ross can keep shooting like that, that may bring up the stakes for devan downey. >> dave: and get the crowd into the game. >> joe: south carolina now goes zone. it's a 2-3 look, as well. both teams playing the same defense, trying to slow the other down. the key is who can rebound out of it. >> dave: there's a foul against devan downey, trying to pick up the steal from chandler parsons. you know, i also talked to mike boynton and erving walker today at shootaround. i said, guys, have you seen or faced a guy as quick as devan downey? they both said no. boynton said the only guy as

fast as downey was john wall. >> joe: interesting. >> dave: nice -- oh, big collision. downey got hit right in the chops. some free throws coming up for erik murphy. >> joe: again, dave, we talked about this very thing in the first half. against the south carolina zone they flashed werner to the foul line area right in the middle of the zone. that brings gray shirts to him and al louse him to find an open big man on the baseline with the pass. that time it was erik murphy, the freshman. >> dave: murphy back at the free-throw line. billy donovan has said that erik murphy is a post player, but he is one of the best shooters on this team. >> joe: let's watch. watch his form. watch the action. good rotation on his ball. he missed that one, but he has great form and rotation on his ball. you can see this kid is going to get better and better with age and maturity.

>> dave: had his pass taken away by jackson. galloway. raley-ross will try it again. a tough fall away from 22 feet out of the corner. it will belong to south carolina. >> joe: we look at the emergence of tyus and parsons, now juniors, and there's erik murphy. they are trying to make plays and murphy is trying to survive is what he's trying to do in the game. that's not a knock on him, it's just he's inexperienced and not ready for this level of basketball just yet. >> dave: south carolina is struggling so poorly from the field burke yet they are only down 4 points. downey, galloway. a long three again from downey. muldrow kept it alive for a moment. but here's boynton.

kenny boynton jr., back to erving walker. and a traveling violation against dan werner. >> joe: werner was making a fake pass while he was leaning forward, and he drug his pivot foot. that's an unforced error. it doesn't make his head coach happy at all. the last ten minutes of the game, every possession becomes more magnified. >> dave: seven gator turnovers now. >> joe: that's the only reason south carolina is still hanging around. >> dave: exactly. >> joe: it shouldn't be that way, dave, because florida has good still players who all handle the ball well. >> dave: raley-ross. his third three of the night! he's the key offensively in support of downey. raley-ross, the senior out of

gastonia, north carolina. time-out. billy donovan and the florida gators, getting back into it. it's a one-point game! 77;;s;;s;3

>> dave: florida leading south carolina by 1, 50-49. a moment ago we saw a little -- some good work by south carolina to pick up a three-point shot by raley-ross. >> joe: the devan downey penetration to the lane draws blue shirts. watch him drive it off of the screen look at the shirt. hold it there. you can see all five florida blue shirts in the picture, three chasing the ball. somebody is open.

downey finds him. it's raley-ross from three-point range, a little sting music in columbia, south carolina, his third of the second half, dave. >> dave: after missing his first six from be pound the arc. boynton can't get it to go. knocked out of bound and it will belong to south carolina with a chance to take the lead with 9: 03 to play. their last lead was at 6:05 and we hadn't even played three minutes. >> dave: i think i would have tried that with jackson. a tough chance there by south carolina. werner inside. parsons thought he was fouled. so whistle. another chance for south carolina to take the lead.

>> joe: the two blue shirt that come up, boynton and walker, both quick enough to hem down any in and keep him out of the middle. >> dave: jackson nowhere to go, finds finds downey. the free-throw line. that's a tough shot, and the gamecocks have the lead again. >> joe: here comes the pressure. >> dave: the one-and-one now for florida. they will step to the free-throw line. the foul on galloway. >> joe: darrin horn doesn't like that because he does not want to put the gators on the line. there's the split of the two guys out front. they have done such a great job all game of hemming downey in, but you just can't contain the inside game. he's so elusive with the ball. of course, at the other end erving walker shows his speed and gets to the free-throw line. the gators are in the bonus now

the rest of the ballgame and that's what darrin horn was upset about. >> dave: i think devin down is one of these guys, i make the comparison to vladimir vladimir guerrero. he's a great player but a bad boy hitter. i think devan downey is one of those guys. you may consider what some may consider a bad shot, but for him that's kind of his comfort zone. >> joe: that's right. he's elusive. he has an assortment of shots. and guys that are as wick as he is and as small as he is, they have to learn how to be more creative to make baskets. >> dave: boy, florida just can't buy a free throw. tyus will pick up that foul. florida now 8 out of 17 at the line. >> joe: you are talking about missing some front ends of one-and-ones as well. i have said this many times, dave that's correct free-throw shooting is a national epidemic in college basketball. nobody shoots free throws very well anymore because kids just

don't work on them. >> dave: downey, a couple of pump fakes. tyus another rebound. tyus with a dozen. >> joe: he didn't make that shot, but there's the creativity we talked before downey when he gets in the lane and trying to get the ball in over the big people. >> dave: walker, a deep three! no good. that will belong to south carolina. florida now really forcing the issue offensively after a great start shooting the basketball. a little bit sluggish. that's allowed south carolina to even the score.

>> dave: the gators have missed their last four shots and dropped their shooting percentage to 60%. 7 1/2 to play. here's a look at the east division standings. you see where the gators and gamecocks are, fourth and fifth respectively. this is an important game for both clubs, but specifically

south carolina because they are here at home. >> joe: we asked darrin horn about the importance of this, and does he talk to his team about the importance of making the ncaa? most coaches would say we never talk about that, but darrin horn said i absolutely told them. we have to beat top 50 teams. we have florida coming in tonight, tennessee coming in down the road, we have to win those games if you are going to have any kind of a chance. so, yes, he put the pressure on his team tonight and wants to see if they will respond. >> dave: gamecocks definitely haven't played well tonight but they are tied at 51. downey is starting to get it going. devan downey with 15 now. halfway to his sec average. >> joe: a 5'9" point guard taking it to to a 6'10" and taking it to the basket. >> dave: got it to mull. they got it to go. >> joe: a great job by the gators with the pressure. pushing against the trap and getting to the baseline for the

easy opportunity. >> dave: it's laughable when you talk about how athletic these guys are the 6'8", 6'9". >> joe: it really is. it's amazing. >> dave: and they seem to get bigger and stronger and faster every year.. >> dave: the quickness of those two guys is amazing. back to galloway. that's a long three. and that's dead solid perfect! here's downey with another steal. pull-up three. off the mark. no whistle. it will belong to florida. >> joe: i tell you what, erving walker got pushed into the south carolina bench and didn't get the call right there.

this ball had gone in, this place would have come unglued. look at that. raley-ross just pushed walk entire the sideline, and the official just letting them play. south korea back to -- south carolina back to the zone with the 1-2-2 look. >> dave: galloway leap frogs vernon macklin and picks up the foul on a one-and-one situation. >> joe: again, that opportunity for macklin was made possible because tyus flashed into the empty seat logo area of the lane against the zone. that's the weak spot. he caught the ball, and when he shot it it gave macklin the opportunity to get position on the baseline for that rebound. >> dave: macklin, a 60% foul shooter. misses again the front end of a

one-and-one. 8 out of 18 are the gators at the line. they are shooting 58% from the field, 44% at the line. >> joe: that's amazing. south korea just three out of four at the line. >> dave: downey left it short. jackson the rebound. blocked by macklin. there goes walker flying down the floor. he's fouled. free throws coming up for erving walker. that will be jefferson's first. >> joe: watch the great block here on the rebound by jackson. a great job by jackson. but vernon macklin rejects, and then right there. that leads to this. the great drive coast-to-coast to the other end by erving

walker. got it all the way to the basket and drew the foul. >> dave: i mean what's going on with the gators at the free-throw line is miraculous in a negative way. they shot 71% coming into this game, second best in the conference, and tonight they are 8 out of 19. walker makes 1 out of 2, but he's an 80% foul shooter. >> joe: you know, it's hard to understand. it's like those of us who try to play golf, some days you can't just make a putt. just can't make it. other times it looks like the hole is big enough to putt it from 30 feet. kind of the same thing with free throws some nights. >> dave: jackson, nice pass to raley-ross and raley-ross now with 14 and south carolina has their largest lead of the

evening. the 19th gator turnover. 4:27 to play. >> joe: turnovers and missed free throws have allowed south carolina to get back in this game. >> dave: raley-ross has got it rolling! his fourth three of the half!

>> dave: joe, it's a 15-4 run over the last five minutes. >> joe: south carolina has finally solved the florida zone defense, and you do that by knocking down three-point shots to loosen that zone up. brandis raley-ross, the senior out of gastonia, north carolina, has done just that. i think now, dave, out of this time-out, you will see billy donovan come out of the zone, play man-to-man, obviously down 7 they have no choice. >> dave: raley-ross couldn't find the rim in the first half. the second half he has, i would say, found his comfort zone.

>> joe: well, i think that stat right there shows it clearly. >> dave: the gators, they need a basket very badly right here against this zone. werner, off to walker. erving. here's parsons, who has been quiet in the second half, as well, after a great start. walker in the corner. werner will try it. no good. tyus, another rebound, and he's fouled. free throws coming up. alex tyus, 14 rebounds, a new season high. free throws on the the way when we come back.

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he will try to keep it off of him. >> dave: well, here's his chance. downey working on the freshman. a little fall away. that won't go. another rebound by jackson, and raley-ross saves it. three minutes to go. running the shot clock down right here. a smart play by the senior, raley-ross, showing leadership on the floor. the shot clock hits 10. that won't go. rebound to tyus. tyus now with a career high 15 boards.

boynton, pull-up three, got it! time-out florida. a 4-point game. first field goal in 4:50 for florida. >> joe: billy donovan is talking to his team right now about time and score. time and score situations. they have 2:17 left. they are down by 4 points. not in a panic situation. they just want to make sure they play good, solid defense and hold the gamecocks to one shot on the other end, come down and score, and they get right back in this game. >> dave: take a look at our geico play of the game. brandis raley-ross, he struggled in the first half, but he has found his range here in the second. >> joe: yeah. the screen against the florida zone, and when you are feeling it the basket looks like a rain barrel. you jump up, three it up there and play string music. the geico play of the game. a great job tonight by the

senior. >> dave: 17 points to lead south carolina. downey with 15, muldrow with 14. so here's the pressure by florida with 2:17 to play. only one time-out left for the gators. >> joe: again, boynton is going to go denine devan downey the basketball and try to keep it off of him. florida has fouls to give, so that's not a bad play. that's only their fifth team foul. they have one more foul to give before putting the gamecocks in the bonus. i don't know if i would have really done that. i would let them go ahead and run the shot clock down. you are only down 4 and it's a two-possession game. plenty of time. >> dave: here's galloway, a little runout. walker, defending him. >> joe: the gators need to play solid defense with no fouls. >> dave: and a reach-in foul. billy donovan collapse his hand. they have it to six. the next team foul will shoot free throws. >> joe: i don't know that at two minutes to go you want to go ahead and put south carolina on

the line. the next foul puts him on the line. i think you have got enough time, dave, to play solid defense. >> dave: with that decision, lakeem jackson is a 30% free-throw shooter, he leaves the game. spinella will come in and boynton picked up the foul. now you have the free throws. so downey will step to the line. downey is fourth in the conference in free throw percentage, 83%. tonight downey at the line, a perfect two out of two. he has been to the free-throw line now 145 times. >> joe: that's a lot. [laughter] >> joe: especially for a point guard. >> dave: and he's 4 out of 4.

the lead at six. the clock is stopped at 2:03. >> joe: they hadn't touch the ball yet. >> dave: and now it goes. werner, parsons. boynton. another chance. warn. walker. bobbled it, now will fire. >> joe: good job defensively by the gamecocks right there, running it shooter, recognizing that the gators were looking exclusively to three-point baskets right there and contested every shot attempt that florida tried to put up. >> dave: south carolina has taken 28 more shots tonight than florida.

gentleman downey. >> joe: he will keep it in his hands as much as he can. a smart play by downey. don't give it up. >> dave: just ran an extra 20 seconds off the clock. devan downey will step to the free-throw line. 17 points tonight, well below his season average and below his sec average of 30.9. he's 5 out of 5. >> joe: the rest of this game, dave, they will put the ball in his hands and he will play marcus haynes, the old marcus haynes routine, trying to play keep away. >> dave: if he gets down on one knee and starts spinning around, you will say i called the shot! [laughter] >> joe: here's werner.

>> dave: that's another air ball. downey has the rebound and lost it. they will say a foul on werner. dan thought he just -- i might agree with him, i think downey lost it out-of-bounds. >> joe: i agree. the ball win out-of-bounds on downey. i don't think werner actually fouled him. let's take a look at this. look at that, 5'9", goes in there andnds

live from the comcast sportsnet studio, this is geico sportsnite. the record setting snow vechkin of 2010 continues. the area has been blanketed for the second time a week. blizzard conditions and even snowplows advised to stay off the road. it is the perfect night to stay inside and let us guide you through another evening of geico sportsnite. it's greg tolin and michael jenkins. >> it's an addition to the nationals rotation and jenks gets us a frosty report on a supermodel. the only team hotter than a brooklyn decker, the washington capitals. >> it is the big story tonight. capitals in montreal looking foyer their 15th win

in a row. they do not get off to a good start. scott gomez lifts it back michael noivert. the first goal allowed in the opening period. ka made yenz with with a 1-0 lead. gorgeous leaves the game and does not return. very scary moment. first minute of the second period the puck is deflected to tomorrow pyatt who puts it on the open net. another goal allowed in the first minute, montreal leads 2-1. excellent puck movement, nick backstrom's 26th of the season. all tied up at 2. bruce boudreau makes a change in net. noyvert out. on the power play, glen in

front gives montreal the lead. right there. 12 seconds later maxine la pierre beats jose as well. stopped by carry price. alex ovechkin drills how gil in front and the puck goes in. ovie levels gil but the goal is disallowed, much to the chagrin of bruce boudreau looking for 15 in a row. short handed off the turn over. brooks raich's second of the game. the -- laich's second of the game. much more on the game later in the show. new information former nfl linebacker bill romanowski met with the

entire offensive staff today. he says he presented quota performance plan, pro football talk reported that romo was interviewing for the job of strength and conditioning coach but romo said he was not. romo played 16 seasons in the nfl. six under shanahan in denver. we've got more geico sportsnite to come right after this. man:e as altime who'mosttant. man:e as altime er lke g.cave..hereat fenswe h doetart. tart theatio eed y whe as altime er the rinve..hereat fenswe h dsomebody who brings it, tartevery game, every time. ♪ eed y whe as altime er the rinve..hereat fenswe h histw dsomebody who brings it, tartevery game, every time. ♪ eed y whe as altime er the rinve..hereat fenswe h

♪ the images from haiti are heart-breaking-- homes, hospitals, and schools destroyed; families searching for loved ones; parents trying to feed their children. but we can all do something. we can help the american red cross as it delivers the food, water, and medicine that can save lives. donate $10 by texting "haiti" to 9-0-9-9-9. visit redcross.org or call 1-800-red-cross. thanks for your help.

is aptaakin arein lr taoks t's inte. ftta cle! movebelt watyour. sevears pill ana fte t! ♪ e trs arinde ann ] trak rewembe ta rous nor reg get ee. deta amtm. take a look at this. on tuesday the hoyas beat providence, 79-70. winning is always something to brag about but this is not. the team bus gets stuck in the snow on the way back to washington. they hit the weekend again

this weekend to face rutgers on sunday. originally i was going to intro this next segment by saying everybody have fun tonight, everybody wang chung and then i remembered that his pronunciation is chen wang. he could be coming to washington. the nationals will pay him for the season. as chico hol land of the post explained this isn't the missing piece to the winning puzzle. >> i don't think you sign chin min wang because you think he will launch you into contention. the nationals are not necessarily vying for that right now. i think you sign him because maybe he regains his form over time and you luck into something really big but

also because maybe you would rather see ross detweiler have 20 starts in syracuse or because you don't want to test somebody who you know maybe doesn't have the stuff and was a number 5 guy in the that's' rotation last year or you don't necessarily want to have to have garrett mock as the number 5 starter if he doesn't look good in spring training. there are a lot of reasons beyond plus or minus 5 in the standings. >> the nationals have everything to gain and nothing to lose because if he doesn't pan out you only lose $2 million. if he does pan out who knows, maybe he can recapture the form he had with the yankees. he's coming off shoulder surgery and may not be able to pitch the first two months but if is the that's can hold the fort down he -- nats can hold the fort down he could be a big plus for the pitching staff. >> they got jason marquee and a guy who can be their

ace. wang is only the number three starter. that's nottooabby re gport r afte. more at supportyourvet.org. f 're tchful ones. we like to kere p a eye t we we s suntouldto a lid ial no youour yout on ore l ofmone you so e to hundred and fiftars. find out more at suntrust.com/solid

one more look. the capitals do not get off to a good start. scott gomez in front. first goal allowed in the opening minute. canadians up 1-0. mark green rips the slap shot. josh gorgeous trying to ther look. he would leave the game and would not return very

scary moment. first minute of the second period, the puck deflected to tom pyatt who puts it in the open net. another goal allowed in the first minute after along none all season. montreal up 2-1. later in the period, backstrom's 26th of the year. game tied at 2. bruce boudreau make a change in net, noyvert out, theodore in. glen met rapolik in front gives montreal the lead. la pierre beats theodore as well. that gives the caps a 2 goal lead. they try to make a run. mike knuble's shot is stopped. alex owe vice kin's drill in front and puck goes n ovie levels gill on the way to the net. the goal is disallowed much

to the chagrin of coach bruce boudreau. gab i not happy. washington down two in the third and short handed. brooks laich is able to beat twice for the second goal in the game. caps down by just one but moments ago they tied the game. the come back kids do it again. they're in the third late in the game tied up at 5. the caps getting it done. here's a look at what the caps have before the olympics game. march 3 they travel to buffalo. how does having such a long lay off affect the players? how is this break going to fact red hot washington capitals team? i think it will be a benefit to

them. it's an intense game and they're getting their a game so all the bumps and bruises, it will help them heal. unfortunately you've got your best players playing in olympics. hopefully they they don't get hurt but barring injury the rest of the team will come back renewed and refreshed to play great hockey. >> the caps still want to be the number one team in the nhl and have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs but it stiekz me that bruce boudreau will have an advantage. he knows that backstrom and semin will be playing a lot of hockey in the olympics. does this give him an opportunity to rest of the guys when they come back? >> maybe you cut it down a few minutes a game but when you're you

see on comcast sportsnet. four times a week you'll see the washington pride practicing at the rockville arena. they are a member of the junior women's hockey league. and despite being from the south, have earned a reputation. as a team to watch out for. >> when we go to western canada and new england or minnesota and compete and win games, i think people are just -- don't know what to think about it. when we were in boston, we were playing several weeks ago against western canadian teams and our bus driver kept asking you, you're from washington, d.c. because we were winning all our games. >> reporter: 17-year-old senior aubrey mora will likely be playing d 1 hockey next year. the goalie is a member of the under 18 national select team. also selected to that team was sophomore 16-year-old

haley scarupa who many believe will be a shoe in for the national team. the conditioning for these athletes it is nonstop. >> ready, set, go. >> reporter: august through may. >> five more. >> reporter: and to have two players from a dc team already on the national scene is not exactly common. >> push it two more. >> reporter: it speaks volume about the players' commitment. >> one, two, three. hard work! >> reporter: question: it's pretty much my whole intire life. i wake up, go to school, do as much homework as i can before practice. go to practice, then go home, do my homework, eat dinner and you know wake up and do it all over again. >> it's an honest commitment that the kids make and the fvmentz there are decisions they have to make about how much they can handle and we obviously are trying to get these girls into college and play at a high level in college so the

grades are important. their sat and act scores are important. we have to make sure they're balanced so it's not $100% hockey and nothing academic. >> reporter: it's a very delicate balance between school and hockey. >> i have quite a commute to get over here. a couple of u.s. do. it's really important to manage our time well and make sure we have our homework done. >> reporter: that commitment is paying off. this is the third year that the washington pride has hosted the challenge cup. one of the most elite girls hockey tournaments in north america. it's sponsored by the washington capitals and takes place at cutler capitals ice rink. teams come from all over, from western canada, minnesota and new england to play in the challenge cup. >> it's one of the most highly recruited tournaments. a bunch of college recruiters come down. >> it's a really big deal for us, and for the area.

and for the other teams, because some people they look forward to this tournament. it's different because usually everyone is traveling up north for tournaments. they're like, we're going down south to virginia. it's amazing to have a tournament in the south where there is not a lot of hockey and to have great teams and college recruiters come. it's awesome. >> reporter: jill sorensen, comcast sportsnet. thank you, jill. from women's hockey to women's modelling. that looks great. that's it. arms up. nice. when we come back we're getting up close and personal with si it ook ecke

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f omedtrok coming up... >> here at comcast sportsnet we are sick and tired of the cold and the snow. especially us on air personalities. that wylie jencks just does anything he can to stay warm. jencks watched the red hop caps go for their 15th straight win as they visited the canadiens. then he got as close as he could to smoking al

koken but al was too brings i breaking down the game with alan may. >> warm thoughts. warm thoughts. could a former member of the world champion yankees be coming to d.c.? the hot stove or toaster is heating up. plus we'll introduce you to the pride of washington next on geico sportsnite. live from the comcast sportsnet studio this is geico sportsnite. >> the record setting snowveckin of 2010 continues. it has been blanketed with the white stuff for the second time of the week. even snowplows are advised to stay off the roads. it's the perfect night to stay inside and bundle up. let us guide you through another evening of geico sportsnite. thanks for being with us on

this wednesday. >> a possible addition to the nationals rotation and jenks gives us a update on a supermodel. the cap tafldz north of the border -- capitals north of the border in montreal looking for their 15th win of the row. scott gomez lifts it back michael noivert. canadiens take a 1-0 lead. a scary moment late in the first period. the face. take one more look. he would have to be helped off the ice and gorgeous would not return but would get a nice ovation from the montreal faithful. first minute of the second period. the puck deflected to tom who puts it in the open net.

montreal leads 2-1. puck movement from the caps. nick backstrom finishes the give and go. we're tied at 2. later in the period, head coach bruce boudreau makes a change. glen metrapola in with the puck. that gives the canadiens a 2-goal lead. capitals trying to make a run. on the run, mike knuble's shot stopped by carry price. alex over vice kin in the front and -- ovechkin in the front levels gil and the puck goes in. the goal is disallowed much to the chagrin of the head coach. washington still down 2 in the third. short handed off the turn over. brooks laich leading a 2 on 1

and beats price for his second goal of the game. capitals down a single goal. still down 1. late in the third. caps pull a goalie. knuble's shot deflected by laich and brooks gets his first career at trick in a dramatic fashion, tied at 5. headed to overtime. sneaks it past theodore for the winner. montreal snaps washington's 14-game winning streak, 6-5 the final. so the capitals lose for the first time since january 12th when they fell to the lightning 7-4. a difficult night for the capitals t noivert giving up two goals and theodore giving up that game winner. next up for washington the senators tomorrow night. for more on tonight's game we welcome joe

benanati and craig rockland. juror hotter than brooklyn decker. i like where your mind is going. the washington kwap -- capitals a tremendous battle. brooks laich was at the forefront of the attack. >> it's a special night for brooks. i know he won't feel great about the team lose youing we -- losing but he had a game to remember. he did his first at trick and the late one to tie it up with the deflection. it's something that as a player you will always remember. i played a long time and never had a at trick. to get that third, joe, is just something special he will always remember. >> this building is special to him on a couple fronts. this is where he first his first ever nhl goal. the capitals fall by 1 in over

style. >> kastitsen was a going concern >> ed: i thought the caps had it pretty well closed off but if you don't take away the stick it's going to cost you. they had plenty of chances throughout the game. that's a great pass by kastitsen more than anything. >> this team has prevailed on so many different fronts but will face kwient emotional game tomorrow when they go to ottowa. >> when you have a great streak like this and you lose there is a huge emotional let down. how do you make sure this doesn't turn into a losing streak before the olympic? >> that's going to be hard you look at this team and i've been through it before in the early 80s. we went through this winning streak and boom you lose three in a row. what hit you? because you're on such a high. your team is playing at such

a high level. a high level. >> why wasn't disclosed back then? >> we didn't face the choice then. i was directly involved in the judgments we collectively made. >> you didn't face a choice back in? >> no, we didn't with the choice i was deeply involved in support believe was the right choice was the decision to restructure these contracts in a week and was better for the taxpayer and prevented the fall of the company. i was fully supportive of that and aware of that. >> it stretches credulity to believe that you had no role and didn't know anything about it when your attorneys and people that work for you were sending e-mails all around the place and you were the head of the fed and didn't know anything about it it doesn't make sense to me and i think a lot of my colleagues feel the same way. >> i was the president of the new york fed throughout that time. we were involved as you know in extraordinary complicated range of things. >> this is major stuff. >> the decisions of aig were major consequential and done

with enormous care and judgment but the choices are not disclosure, which understandably are the focus of so much attention are not judging -- >> , to finish asking. you think they're ought to be an annual audit of the said? >> i am very supportive -- >> digit amit's time is expired. you may answer the question. >> i'm very supportive of financial reform of trying to make sure that the fed is subject to and eckert level of transparency and disclosure and oversight and the chairman of the federal reserve worked with many members of congress in helping shape reform that would achieve that outcome. >> i will take that as a yes. ..

and i can tell you that as i have read your written statement, i am trying to figure out as far as the initial getting involved with aig and what ewald did i don't know what anybody else would have done. i don't think we had a choice.

or that you had a choice, so that me say that i think we did the right thing there. this is where it gets sticky. we also have the situation secretary geithner when the american people are concerned that a lot is being done for wall street, but not enough is being done for main street. it do you understand that? >> absolutely. >> one of the interesting things is to talk about so if you have not taken the action from the beginning how it might have affected main street. the constituents of all 435-- can you tell us if you hadn't taken action how might it would have affected students in my district or businesses or whatever? can you tell us that because i don't think that is getting through. >> the alsands of more factories would have closed their doors. millions more americans would have lost their jobs. the value of america's housing

and savings would have fallen even further than they did at that time. people would have rushed to take their money out of things. it would have brought about the utter collapse. i don't know a better way to say at the gnat and if people wonder what that that was true i think all they have to do is look back at what actually happened in the fall of 2008. esau the value of american savings fall by almost 40%. billions of dollars in lost well, and millions of americans lost their homes, thousands and thousands of businesses had to close. that is what happens when you let the financial crisis get out of control. government should never let that happen but if they don't act, and this is a very important thing for people to understand, people think it is unfair for the government to act to rescue a financial system. but you cannot help the economy

recover, you cannot create jobs, you can preserve the value of savings without a functioning financial system. >> another moment when we requested the hearing that i was concerned about was the counterparties. as you probably know i love with 26 members of congress requested that sigtarp, barofsky looking to the whole issue. and, the girls that counterparties and had they not been paid in full they risk collapse. what is this a real possibility? >> in my judgment, that was not the most important risk of aig. aig's delia would have posed some direct losses on those major banks. but those losses themselves were not the issue. they would not insignificant. the threat to the system and this was a threat to all institutions was the threat of collapse of the system as a whole and if aig had failed the

wedded sini crisis spread to insurance companies around the world and he would have seen investors, depositors and creditors pull back from every financial institution in the world and that would have brought a much more precipitous collapse in all financial values. >> my time is running alpert coaches earl quick when the public has so much invested in the company's net better to err on the side of transparency mr. secretary as opposed to keeping things secret? >> of course, of course. >> so what would push the decision to not be as transparent? i mean what would cause that? >> they are very few cases where it is necessary for there to be either a leghorn disclosure or some gap. i am not sure how to the best way to explain this but like a national security, like in law enforcement-- >> the gentleman's time has

expired. >> like supervisory information but also to protect the taxpayer. there are some areas in which need to be careful about how you manage that. that is a discussion you should have with my colleagues that the fed but do we would not want to disclose information that would be bad for the taxpayer, make it harder for the taxpayer to recoup our investment. but in general congressman i completely agree. transparency disclosures are essential part of the american people deserve it and we have been very effective in bringing an unprecedented level of security to all the basic actions we took in this financial crisis, an unprecedented level of disclosure. >> thank you. the chair recognizes mr. mica. >> thank you mr. chairman. mr. secretary, it is kind of interesting the way you frame your testimony and your involvement in some of these decisions before the committee today. i thank you have tried to give the impression that you had to

do what you had to do because of the financial situation. that is pretty much what you have said, right? >> absolutely. >> thank you. then you use the term, he kept using the term, made decisions together. then you said a dividing line of november 24. was that when you receive the word that you were going to be nominated for treasury secretary? >> that is when the announcement was made. >> so you have tried to distance yourself from decisions that were made before that but in fact-- >> i have not-- i take pride in full responsibility for all those decisions. >> okay then you also were aware win the new york federal reserve board ultimately selected on november 3rd, 2008, to purchase

the underlying assets? >> absolutely, yes. as i said i take pride-- >> also you had no, you had no knowledge of any cover-up, right? for intent not to give full information and disclosure? >> of course not. >> of course not so you took credit for the decision but not the cover-up. you have distanced yourself from any cover-up before november 24th and then of course you were out of the picture from november 24th forward, is that correct? >> congressman i am not trying to distance myself from anything. i will take complete responsibility for decisions i was part of shaping including all decisions up to the 24th in this case and i'm happy to take responsibility for all the decisions i have made since then. >> you are aware of 100 cents on the dollar.

>> absolutely. >> absolutely and the risk posed by that offers so you knew about that but you were not attempting to cover it up. >> of course not. >> okay, so i believe either you made a bad decision there, or in fact there was the attempt to cover up one of the biggest bailout, a backdoor bailouts in history. now you have tried to frame it as you did it because you did it in the interest of the people and the failure of the system. i am telling you i believe these are lame excuses. either you were in charge and did the wrong thing or you participated in the wrong thing. to me it appears like you know, when you were being confirmed, a lot of controversy surrounded you are not paying your taxes. ute kate lamb excuses then. i believe-- lame excuses now and my final question is, why

shouldn't we ask for your resignation as secretary of the treasury? i didn't think you should have been secretary of the treasury when it was disclosed that you did not pay your taxes because that is the highest financial responsibility position in the united states government so why shouldn't you-- >> that is your right, that is your right to that opinion. i work in public-service all my life. i have never been a politician. i have served my country asably as a can and it is a great privilege for me to work with this president to help repair the damage that was here when we took office. and i will do so as long as he asked me to do so to the best of my ability with great pride in this country and in him. >> again, i think you are putting the blame and i think you are trying to position yourself-- >> you don't know me very well. you don't know me very well. >> we are not getting the whole

story. we are getting a lane story in a monumental backdoor decision a bailout for which the american taxpayers will stay on the hook for huge amounts of money even by estimates of the treasury department there will be billions of dollars from this deal which either you should have been overseeing and you said you have knowledge of come and you fail to take some steps to further protect the taxpayer interest. you were either incompetent on the job, or you were not doing your job and knew what was taking place and tried to conceal it and i think that is grounds for your removal. >> congressman, i was there. i know what i was responsible for. i take full responsibility and take great pride in those judgments. >> van jones lamons time has expired but the secretary may answer the question. >> you take great pride in those judgments. >> i do take great pride in those judgments and people have a right to disagree and go back

and look at them with great analysis and i hope he will give the same care and judgment to looking at those decisions in retrospect with the benefit of hindsight that we gave in making those decisions at that time. >> i thank the gentleman. it is my time to ask questions, and i am yielding myself five minutes. mr. geithner, the new york fed agree to goldman sachs demands for billions to settle its counterparty claims with aig, 100 cents on the dollar but for more than a year before that goldman and aig had been locked into a dispute over that money in gold and believe it will lose up to 2.5 billion is aig defaulted. did you know what the kind of goldman sachs concluded it would not receive 100 cents on the dollar from aig in the event of default? >> i don't know whether that is true or not. >> goldman had said publicly that they didn't need the

government's money, that it was fully hedged and would it not been material effective but that turns out to be disingenuous. and investigators learned call on supplemental insurance policy would not pay in the event the government bailed out aig. goldman's protection would pay only in the event aig defaulted. goldman had not anticipated the government bailout so had not put that contingency into its contract. then filet ethical manatt real risk of losing the entire amount of disputed money once the government rescued aig. did you have any knowledge at the time, did lloyd blankfein or anyone meckle minute mitt to you or anyone working under you that goldman sachs was not fully hedged in the event the government took over aig and goldman was at risk of losing it least $2.5 billion at the government bailout aig and impose less than 100 cents on the dollar on counterparties?

>> congressman, i am not aware and i don't see how could it been aware of the precise details of the hedging strategies of all those firms to the events of a default by aig but we made it very careful effort to try to assess, working with the supervisors of all the institutions and exposure to aig about what their exposure would be. >> at the talk to lloyd blankfein for example? >> in the goldman sachs case in particular because there were press reports that were consequential in this case i did ask them directly with their exposure was an ask them to show me what their internal information system reports showed about the exposure. >> the committee if i may is going to have a series of questions to submit to you in writing so that he will be given an opportunity to make sense of the answer. mr. secretary once the

government stepped in there was only one way for goldman sachs to get any piece of the 2.5 billion that was that the new york fed voluntarily agree to give it to them. now at the new york fed had fought for taxpayers goldman what have lost money it did not have hope of recovering in spite of public statements to the contrary. the new york fed had a lot of leverage, a lot of leverage to negotiate a reduction which would have save taxpayers billions but instead the new york fed took goldman sachs position in its dispute with the haji and settled fully with taxpayer money. mr. geithner under normal circumstances goldman sachs woodenhead to sue aig in court to recover the disputed 2.5 billion they would settle for something less than that. isn't it true that the new york fed gave goldman sachs a better deal than it could have ever expected from the ig or any market player at any other time? >> congressman, if we had the

ability like we have four normal companies to put them to bankruptcy if we have the ability like we have four banks to put them into an orderly process like was a bankruptcy we could have done many things but under the laws of the land, we did not have the ability. so we face a very simple choice. led aig defaults or prevent it. there was no way financial legal or otherwise, we could have imposed here cuts selectively defaulted on any of those institutions without the risk of downgrading in default. that is the only reason-- >> i just want to say mr. secretary they taxpayers to give a better deal than the market would deliver yet that is what the fed did. the government gave goldman sachs more than goldman sachs had any right to expect but at the same time giving no financial relief to millions of

americans facing the foreclosure crisis and that-- that doesn't illustrate what the new york fed was working for who would reeves working for i don't know what does. seabee you may respond and then my time has expired. >> congressman that is not true and it is unfair to the public servants-- >> what is not true? >> what you just said. it is not true the actions we took with aig were for the benefit of anybody but the millions of americans who at that point were suffering from the worst financial crisis since the great depression. the only way to help reduce and protect that damage was to fix the system and prevent catastrophic failure. that is the only motive that underpinnings by the government. >> my time has expired in the chair recognizes mr. duncan. >> thank you mr. chairman. mr. secretary you talked about looking at these events with the benefit of hindsight.

two men who did were peter boone, who is a researcher at the london school of economics and simon johnson the professor mit. >> could the gentleman speak closer to the mic so we can hear you? >> simon johnston a professor mit and sloan school of management and they wrote in "the new republic" magazine in the september 23rd issue, the fed may well that mitigated the current crisis by sowing the seeds for the next one and they say in fact the fed has exacerbated the possibility of another similar even larger crisis. in fact the way they put it they say as a result of less real reform happen suddenly faced the prospect of another double burst bailout cycle that will be more dangerous than the one had is untrue. i am assuming you know the american people are very angry about these bailouts and the bonuses and salaries that have come about through what most of

them see as the big government, big business duopoly and they feel like this big government big business duopoly has been the manipulated in such a way as to allow just mind-boggling salaries and bonuses and allow very few elitist at the top to come out like robber barons to an extent really not known in american history. because of big government to the federal reserve system, our free market system was allowed to operate and it seems to most of us that it has not capitalism when government uses billions and billions of taxpayer money to prop up a very few well connected firms. that leads me to two questions. one, has the treasury informed any of these financial giants that will not follow too big to fail policies in the future and secondly do you think we should limit the salaries in these

ridiculously excessive salaries and bonuses that are being talked about even today in any of these firms that got taxpayer bailout funds? >> congressman that was a thoughtful question in view of exactly the right question. and the financial crisis he faced this tragic choice. you can try to let it burn itself out and let the damage spread to all sorts of innocent victims were you can act to prevent it knowing that acting to prevent it will create the risk in the future investors will expect the government to step then in the future and say firms from the consequences of failure. that is the dilemma at the heart of strategy in the financial crisis. to stand back and let it burn is irresponsible. it is what happened in the great depression and it almost happened to this country. the moral just pragmatic their choice and they should be true if you are republican or

democrat, is to iraq to protect the innocent. but, as you said wisely, by definition that creates the risk for future crises and that is why in the financial reform, we'll have a huge stake in trying to make sure we not just limited risk-taking in the future but investors in equity holders and creditors some managers and executives do not run these firms with the expectations that the government will be there again. and that is why it is so important we put in place types of bankruptcy mechanisms that we have in things that we do not have for institutions like aig. no, absolutely we have made clear in public in crystal clear terms in reform proposals now moving through congress that we can in this expectation that too big to fail and government assistance and if you look at what we have done since he came to office we have moved very aggressively to pool the government out of these institutions to make sure we are

not in these institutions a day longer than is necessary to replace the public capital with private capital and we have done that by forcing disclosure and forcing firms to recapitalize with private money precisely because we want to limit the scale of the government's involvement in in this exceptional period as quickly as we could and that strategy has been very very effective in ways people on the right in on the left should welcome. on the right it means that the government is out much more quickly than anybody expected. on the left people should know with confidence now that we have far more resources now available to help address the long-term challenges we face of the country to reduce our long term of this and try to meet the things we have to do to fix what was broken in this country but he left a very good question and i agree very much with the thrust of their concern. >> that was a good answer to my first question of my second questions was the think these bonuses and salary should be limited in any way for these firms that did receive

government bailout money? >> i think what happened to compensation across this country and in the financial system was terribly catastrophic. it is judged by a wave of a huge increase in income inequality over decades. and the financial system it was much worse and it was much more consequential because it helped encourage it level of risk-taking that brought the system to the edge of collapse so we think it is deeply in port in the public interest of the country that congress legislate reform that will change how bankers are paid. government can't do it alone though. shareholders and their representatives on the boards of these firms have to bring about much tougher limits in hopped firms are paid and i think it is important to do and i hope we will have support from the congress. >> the chair recognizes mr. lynch of massachusetts.

>> thank you mr. chairman. mrs. secretary i'm well aware of your family commitment to public service so it makes it more difficult than the sense but to else these questions. i honestly feel that the conduct of yourself and mr. paulson were not consistently on this side of the american taxpayer and i will explain why. i will give you two examples. we have the situation with bear stearns. the circumstances were the same. the world was on the brink. we have got this disaster and the airport bicking-- warring about this is the melting down. with your support in mr. paulson, mr. bernanke we forced their stearns shareholders from a position that i think was a high of $170 a share in january. we force them down to $2 a share because the american taxpayer money was in the bailout. and that was something that was supported by the fed, by

treasury because we felt that because the taxpayer was bailing them out, that the shareholders of bear stearns should not be held harmless. now, you have a different situation here, slightly different. a number of weeks later, where we have aig going under, and these are credit default swaps so the money going into aig is going right out to the counterparties. this is a pass through and the folks on the other side are goldman sachs. that is the principle beneficiary of all this. and we don't negotiate in nickel, not a sense of what they are getting. you are in the same position. you are supposed to be negotiating on behalf of the american people. you were saying the regulations were different. let me tell you something we were changing the rules and regulations every single day. we were taking action under

extraordinary circumstances. you had every opportunity, every opportunity to weigh in on behalf of the american people and make these people take a new deal, make them take a new paradigm. use cow the folks on bear stearns. 2 cents on a dollar they got, 2 cents on the dollar the folks that goldman sachs got 100 cents on the dollar. and that is just unacceptable. totally unacceptable. you have the opportunity and i just think it was a terrible decision on your part and also on mr. paulson's part and he is up later and we will talk to him. how do you expect-- look, the thing about changing it over to the obama administration, you get the same people who are relying on you. the american taxpayer when you are in one shot in the american taxpayer is relying on the other job. i don't see a conflict. you could have done the right

thing by those people by the american taxpayer because their money was being put into this deal. extinctive ba'hi heaven what happened here. i would like the opsification into top khalaf the disclosure was not there. the disclosure was not there at the proper time to tell the american people and tell this congress what was going on and that is inexcusable and it makes me doubt, it makes me voucher commitment to the american people. it makes me doubt mr. paulson's commitment to the american people and the commitment to goldman sachs trunked the responsibility that our officials had to the american people. >> congressman i respect your opinion. i know you hold this opinion strongly but i completely disagree. the american taxpayer would not have been better off if the government had made it possible for bear stearns to get more money. the american taxpayer would not have been better off if we have led aig the folk. none of us did anything out of

any concern-- >> there's a difference between giving them 100 cents on the dollar and letting them default. you are creating new facilities every week to help folks. we were letting people go to the discount window that never had an opportunity to do that. we were changing the rules day by day and we have the banks in a position where we could exercise a lot of leverage and you chose not to do it. >> i disagree with you. >> it doesn't mean we have to pay them 100 cents on the dollar or we let them fail, there increments here and we never use the leverage. >> not in this case. >> in this case exactly. under 133 we could live taken different steps. >> 133 have nothing to do with this. this is important to understand. 133 was authority given to the federal reserve to protect the financial system from broadbased runs to give us the