# 1969–70 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team

The 1969–70 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina during the 1969–70 men's college basketball season. South Carolina won their first ACC Regular season championship after going a perfect 14-0 in ACC play. Although they won the ACC regular season, they were denied a spot in the NCAA tournament after they lost a controversial ACC Championship tournament game to NC State in double overtime. Junior John Roche won ACC player of the year, and was a first team All American. South Carolina began the season ranked 1st in the AP poll, and finished 6th in both AP and Coaches.

## Roster

| Name | Position | Height | Year | Stats |
| John Roche | Guard | 6–3 | Junior | 22.2 Pts, 2.5 Reb |
| Tom Owens | Center | 6–10 | Junior | 15.9 Pts, 14.0 Reb |
| Tom Riker | Forward | 6–10 | Sophomore | 13.8 Pts, 9.0 Reb |
| Bobby Cremins | Guard | 6–2 | Senior | 7.2 Pts, 5.4 Reb |
| Rick Aydlett | Forward | 6–7 | Sophomore | 5.5 Pts, 4.0 Reb |
| John Ribock | Forward | 6–8 | Junior | 5.2 Pts, 6.8 Reb |
| Bob Carver | Guard | 6–2 | Sophomore | 3.5 Pts, 0.8 Reb |
| Gene Spencer | Forward | 6–8 | Senior | 1.5 Pts, 0.9 Reb |
| Corkey Carnevale | Guard | 6–3 | Senior | 1.0 Pts, 0.6 Reb |
| Tommy Terry | Guard | 6–2 | Senior | 0.3 Pts, 1.0 Reb |
| Dennis Powell | Center | 6–0 | Junior | 0.4 Pts, 0.1 Reb |
| Billy Grimes | Guard | 6–5 | Sophomore | 0.0 Pts, 0.9 Reb |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| December 1* | No. 1 | at Auburn | W 86–64 | 1-0 | Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL |
| December 6* | No. 1 | Tennessee | L 55–56 | 1-1 | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC |
| December 10* | No. 8 | at East Carolina | W 68-49 | 2-1 | Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Greenville, NC |
| December 13 | No. 8 | at Virginia | W 62–51 | 3-1 (1-0) | University Hall Charlottesville, VA |
| December 15 | No. 8 | at Maryland | W 101–68 | 4-1 (2-0) | Cole Fieldhouse College Park, Maryland |
| December 18* | No. 5 | Long Island | W 89–52 | 5-1 | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC |
| December 29* | No. 3 | vs. New Mexico | W 85–62 | 6-1 | |
| December 30* | No. 3 | vs. No. 13 Notre Dame | W 84–83 | 7-1 | |
| January 5 | No. 3 | No. 4 North Carolina | W 65–52 | 8-1 (3-0) | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC |
| January 10 | No. 3 | Maryland | W 98–72 | 9-1 (4-0) | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC |
| January 12 | No. 3 | Virginia | W 63–42 | 10-1 (5-0) | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC |
| January 14* | No. 3 | at Furman | W 59–56 | 11-1 | Greenville Memorial Auditorium Greenville, SC |
| January 26 | No. 3 | at Clemson | W 97–76 | 12-1 (6-0) | Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, SC |
| January 28 | No. 4 | Virginia Tech | W 86–54 | 13-1 (7-0) | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC |
| January 31 | No. 4 | at Duke | W 67–55 | 14-1 (8-0) | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC |
| February 4* | No. 2 | at Temple | W 79–71 | 15-1 | McGonigle Hall Philadelphia, PA |
| February 7 | No. 2 | Clemson | W 99–52 | 16-1 (9-0) | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC |
| February 9 | No. 2 | Wake Forest | W 81–54 | 17-1 (10-0) | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC |
| February 11* | No. 2 | No. 13 Davidson | L 62–68 | 17-2 | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC |
| February 14 | No. 2 | Duke | W 82–65 | 18-2 (10-0) | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC |
| February 18 | No. 4 | at No. 12 NC State | W 71–69 | 19-2 (11-0) | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| February 21 | No. 4 | at No. 13 North Carolina | W 79–62 | 20-2 (12-0) | Carmichael Auditorium Chapel Hill, NC |
| February 23 | No. 4 | at Wake Forest | W 67–51 | 21-2 (13-0) | Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum Winston-Salem, NC |
| February 28 | No. 4 | No. 14 NC State | W 85–69 | 22-2 (14-0) | Carolina Coliseum Columbia, SC |
| March 5* | No. 3 | vs. Clemson ACC tournament | W 34–33 | 23-2 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC |
| March 6* | No. 3 | vs. Wake Forrest ACC tournament | W 79–63 | 24-2 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC |
| March 7* | No. 3 | vs. NC State ACC tournament | L 39-42 $^{2OT}$ | 24-3 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| Coaches | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 |