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Archie's late three sparks South Carolina to upset

Feb 3, 2008 - 5:15 AM OXFORD, Mississippi (Ticker) -- Dominique Archie's clutch shot signaled a first for South Carolina.

Archie hit a shot from the arc with 5.9 seconds left and South Carolina won at Tad Smith Coliseum for the first time with an 80-77 victory over No. 22 Mississippi in a Southeastern Conference matchup on Saturday.

Trailing by two with the clock winding down, Archie caught a pass at the top of the key and drained his third 3-pointer of the game. Archie, who finished with 20 points, played the final six minutes with four fouls.

The Rebels (16-4, 3-4 SEC West) quickly brought the ball up court but freshman Chris Warren stepped on the sideline, turning the ball back over to the Gamecocks with 1.1 seconds left.

Mississippi was then assessed a technical foul when fans threw debris on the court and Devan Downey made two free throws to cap the scoring.

"We had our opportunities. No one wants to see anything thrown on the floor. I'm not sure it had a big bearing on the game, though," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. "We didn't execute down the stretch, and that's happened to us a couple of times. You get what you deserve."

Downey, the SEC's leading scorer, had 25 points and Zam Fredrick added 13 for South Carolina (11-10, 3-4 East), which entered the game 0-8 all-time at Tad Smith Coliseum.

"This was some college basketball game with a great atmosphere in a great conference. It was a fun game to coach and a fun game to watch," South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. "Neither team could get away from each other. Ole Miss played hard and played well. We've played better on the road than at home this year. Our offense was able to handle everything that Ole Miss threw at us."

Kennedy came into the game knowing that Downey was a threat. Not only was he leading the league in scoring but he played for Kennedy at Cincinnati. When Kennedy left the Bearcats to take the job at Ole Miss, Downey transferred to South Carolina.

"I can't say that I told you so, but I knew what he was going to give us," Kennedy said.

Dwayne Curtis scored 25 points and Zach Graham and Warren each had 14 for the Rebels, who were 10-0 at home this season before the loss.

"I thought South Carolina played at a good pace and had control of the game. But we made our runs, and I thought our energy at the end of the game was much better," Kennedy said. "We rebounded the ball like we typically do. We shot the ball at a high enough percentage, but we didn't get any stops. It is very difficult to win on the road, but the way South Carolina won was exactly the way you win on the road. They got contributions across the board."