1970–71 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team

1970–71 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball
ACC Tournament champion
NCAA Tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 6
Record	23–6 (10–4 ACC)
Head coach	Frank McGuire (7th season)
Home arena	Carolina Coliseum

1970–71 ACC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 13 North Carolina	11	–	3		.786			26	–	6		.813
No. 6 South Carolina †	10	–	4		.714			23	–	6		.793
Duke	9	–	5		.643			20	–	10		.667
Wake Forest	7	–	7		.500			16	–	10		.615
Virginia	6	–	8		.429			15	–	11		.577
NC State	5	–	9		.357			13	–	14		.481
Maryland	5	–	9		.357			14	–	12		.538
Clemson	3	–	11		.214			9	–	17		.346
† 1971 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1970–71 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina during the 1970–71 men's college basketball season. South Carolina won the ACC tournament championship, defeating North Carolina in the championship game 52–51.[1] This was the last season South Carolina ever played in the ACC. The success South Carolina achieved on the court brought resentment and anger from fellow ACC schools, especially those on "Tobacco Road," as the conference members of the state of North Carolina were known. The hostility of the road crowds, the unfriendly behavior of coaches and athletic directors in the conference, and the discrepancies in eligibility standards led head coach Frank McGuire to support South Carolina becoming an Independent before the 1971–72 season.[2] Despite South Carolina leaving the ACC in 1971, (as of 2018) they still remain the only school in the state of South Carolina to win an ACC tournament championship, even though Clemson, still remains in the ACC.[3]

Roster

Name	Position	Height	Year	Stats
John Roche	Guard	6–3	Senior	21.6 Pts, 2.3 Reb
Tom Owens	Center	6–10	Senior	15.0 Pts, 12.9 Reb
Tom Riker	Forward	6–10	Junior	14.0 Pts, 8.0 Reb
Kevin Joyce	Guard	6–2	Sophomore	12.1 Pts, 4.8 Reb
Rick Aydlett	Forward	6–7	Junior	7.8 Pts, 3.5 Reb
Bob Carver	Guard	6–2	Junior	7.2 Pts, 2.0 Reb
John Ribock	Forward	6–8	Senior	1.8 Pts, 2.3 Reb
Danny Traylor	Center	7–0	Sophomore	1.8 Pts, 2.1 Reb
Casey Manning	Guard	6–3	Sophomore	0.7 Pts, 0.7 Reb
Jimmy Powell	Guard	5–11	Junior	0.6 Pts, 0.0 Reb
Dennis Powell	Center	6–0	Junior	0.2 Pts, 0.2 Reb

[4]

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
December 3*	No. 2	Auburn	W 86–69	1-0	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
December 5*	No. 2	at No. 5 Notre Dame	W 85–82	2-0	Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center  South Bend, IN
December 12	No. 2	Duke	W 98-78	3-0 (1-0)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
December 16	No. 2	Maryland	W 96–70	4-0 (2-0)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
December 19*	No. 2	at Virginia Tech	W 78–76	5-0	Cassell Coliseum  Blacksburg, VA
December 26*	No. 2	vs. Cornell	W 83–60	6-0
December 28*	No. 2	vs. Providence	W 102–86	7-0
December 30*	No. 2	vs. No. 5 Western Kentucky	W 86–84	8-0
January 2	No. 2	Clemson	W 81–53	9-0 (3-0)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
January 4	No. 2	at North Carolina	L 64–79	9-1 (3-1)	Carmichael Auditorium  Chapel Hill, NC
January 6*	No. 2	Temple	W 84–71	10-1	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
January 9	No. 2	at Maryland	L 30–31	10-2 (3-2)	Cole Fieldhouse  College Park, MD
January 11	No. 2	at Virginia	L 49–50	10-3 (3-3)	University Hall  Charlottesville, VA
January 30	No. 10	No. 15 Virginia	W 92–70	11-3 (4-3)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
February 1	No. 10	at Duke	L 71–82	11-4 (4-4)	Cameron Indoor Stadium  Durham, NC
February 4*	No. 7	at Furman	W 118–83	12-4	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
February 6	No. 7	at Clemson	W 47–44	13-4 (5-4)	Littlejohn Coliseum  Clemson, SC
February 10*	No. 9	vs. Davidson	W 70–62	14-4	Charlotte Coliseum  Charlotte, NC
February 17	No. 7	North Carolina State	W 79–63	15-4 (6-4)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
February 20	No. 7	No. 8 North Carolina	W 72–66	16-4 (7-4)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
February 22*	No. 7	Houston	W 88–71	17-4	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
February 24	No. 7	Wake Forrest	W 84–64	18-4 (8-4)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
February 27	No. 7	at NC State	W 82–69	19-4 (9-4)	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
March 6	No. 6	Wake Forrest	W 88–73	20-4 (10-4)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
March 11*	No. 6	vs. Maryland ACC tournament	W 71–63	21-4	Greensboro Coliseum  Greensboro, NC
March 12*	No. 6	vs. NC State ACC tournament	W 69–56	22-4	Greensboro Coliseum  Greensboro, NC
March 13*	No. 6	vs. No. 13 North Carolina ACC tournament	W 52-51	23-4	Greensboro Coliseum  Greensboro, NC
March 18*	No. 6	vs. No. 3 Penn NCAA tournament	L 64-79	23-5	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
March 20*	No. 6	vs. No. 9 Fordham NCAA tournament • Third Place Game	L 90-100	23-6	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

[5]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	6	11	10	7	10	7	7	6	6	6
Coaches	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	6	8	9	7	9	9	7	6	7	6

[6]

Gamecocks drafted into the NBA

Year	Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1971	1	14	John Roche	Phoenix Suns
1971	4	58	Tom Owens	Houston Rockets

[7]

References

1. "5 greates wins in South Carolina history". thestate.com. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
2. "South Carolina leaving the ACC dumbest move in history". thebiglead.com. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
3. "ACC Champions Index". sports-reference.com. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
4. "1970-71 South Carolina Gamecock basketball roster". Sports-reference.com. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
5. "1970-71 South Carolina Gamecock basketball schedule". sports-reference.com. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
6. "1970-71 polls". sports-reference.com. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
7. "1971 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 24, 2018.