NEW YORK -- South Carolina coach Frank Martin savored his teams victory over No. 25 Michigan and then went straight to the videotape.While his team enjoyed a flight to New York, Martin watched film of his last game at Kansas State -- a loss to Syracuse in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. He discovered everything his former team did wrong against the Oranges zone defense and vowed the Gamecocks would not repeat those miscues.They didnt and sprinkled in some dominating defense.Sindarius Thornwell scored 16 points as South Carolina had enough offense to go along with its defense and never trailed in its 64-50 victory over No. 18 Syracuse on Saturday in the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational at Barclays Center.I slept on it and I said `Ive got to change what I did and you saw we ran the bigs kind of up to the elbows, Martin said. We needed to lift the big up to the zone rather than try behind it. Once we lift the zone then find the cracks behind it so we can have space to shoot.Credit our guys. I dont claim to be Einstein. I just try to do my job. They listened, they were in tune (and) they executed.South Carolina shot 45 percent and scored 30 points in the paint. The Gamecocks scored most of their points after frequently getting defensive stops via 12 steals and 17 Syracuse turnovers.Every game we come out and guard, thats what our coaching staff and our team prides itself on, defense, South Carolina guard PJ Dozier said. We make our offense out of our defense.The Gamecocks effectiveness at getting through Syracuses zone and forcing turnovers resulted in their second win in three seasons against a Top 25 team in Brooklyn. On Jan. 2, 2014, South Carolina had a 64-60 victory over No. 9 Iowa State.Thornwell made 9 of 10 free throws. He also had six rebounds, five assists, three steals and was named the MVP of the Invitational.Maik Kotsar also had 16 points for South Carolina (6-0) while Dozier added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Gamecocks, who gave up 12 of the first 18 rebounds but finished with a 37-30 margin on the glass.Tyler Lydon led the Orange (4-1) with a season-high 18 points. Andrew White III and Frank Howard added 10 points apiece as Syracuse shot 31.8 percent.They were just really good defensively, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. They pressured you, they got in the lane. They just really are a good defensive team. We knew that because we saw the Michigan game and Michigan is probably as good an offensive movement team as anybody against man-to-man in the country and they couldnt get anything.Lydon hit a 3-pointer with 17:05 remaining to get Syracuse within 40-32. Following a defensive stop, Lydon had another basket forcing South Carolina to call time out.Two free throws by White cut the deficit to 47-43 with 11:39 remaining but the Orange went nearly 5 minutes without a point while Howard missed four free throws and Lydon missed an open 3-pointer.The drought ended when White hit a 3-pointer to make it 51-46 with about 6 1/2 minutes left.Following Whites 3-pointer, the Gamecocks gradually restored the double-digit lead they held late in the first half. South Carolina took a 57-47 lead on a basket by Kotsar with about 3 minutes left and finished off the win at the free throw line.BIG PICTURE:South Carolina: South Carolinas defense continued to hold teams to low shooting percentages and it could make the Gamecocks difficult to play against for other SEC teams. The Gamecocks have held teams under 40 percent in each of their six games.Syracuse: Lydon can take over at times and did not disappoint for at least the two NBA scouts in attendance to watch him.OFFENSIVE WOES:How bad was Syracuses offense? The Orange were outscored by their football counterparts who lost 76-61 to Pittsburgh on Saturday.POLL IMPLICATIONS:The Gamecocks were not one of 16 teams to receive any Top 25 votes last week. That should change after South Carolina remained unbeaten with wins over No. 25 Michigan and No. 18 Syracuse.Syracuse will likely stay in the poll though it is unlikely the Orange will remain at No. 18. Out of the teams behind them in the poll, Baylor and Iowa State remained undefeated and likely will move ahead of the Orange in the next poll.HONORING PEARL WASHINGTON: Before the national anthem, there was a moment of silence of former Syracuse guard Dwayne Pearl Washington, who died of brain cancer on April 20. Syracuse is the midst of a 31-day campaign to honor Washingtons memory. The campaign culminates Dec. 17 when Syracuse hosts former Big East rival Georgetown. Before his three seasons at Syracuse from 1983 to 1986, Washington attended Boys and Girls High School, which is located about 2 1/2 miles east of Barclays Center.UP NEXT:South Carolina hosts Vermont on Dec. 1.Syracuse is at No. 16 Wisconsin on Tuesday in ACC/Big Ten Challenge.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. Wholesale Custom Jerseys . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. Cheap Custom Jerseys . The 17-year-old native of Marystown, N.L., pulled out of Skate Canada International last month in Saint John, N.B., with the same problem. http://www.soccerjerseyscustom.com/custom-belgium-jerseys-cheap-78x . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. Wholesale Custom Soccer Jerseys Online . PETERSBURG, Fla. Custom Soccer Jerseys Outlet . Wilson hit Schenn from behind during Tuesday nights game in Philadelphia, earning a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct. He has a phone hearing with the department of player safety, which limits any potential suspension to five or fewer games. European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley insists he will not be afraid to change the rules regarding Ryder Cup eligibility following last months defeat at Hazeltine.Only European Tour members can play on the team, a regulation which meant captain Darren Clarke did not have the option of selecting world No. 12 Paul Casey, who gave up his membership to concentrate on the PGA Tour.The chance to play in the Ryder Cup has long been seen as one of the key ways the European Tour can try to prevent its top stars from playing full time on the more lucrative PGA Tour.But Pelley believes it is his job to make the Tour an attractive enough proposition that players will choose to play on this side of the Atlantic, rather than be forced to do so.We are always talking to our top players, said Pelley, who was responding to calls this week from Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy to change the eligibility criteria. We are always listening to what they have to say. We also want to have the best possible team at the Ryder Cup.We are having discussions regarding the qualification system now. We will continue to have them. We will have them with our players. We will have them with our tournament committee and our board over the coming weeks and months.We will adjust the Ryder Cup qualification if we feel that we need to. We wont be afraid to make the changes.I would say that part of our job at the Tour is to get players to come and play because it is a terrific place to play. We play at world-class resorts, like here in Turkey. We play on great golf courses in great cities. To be a world-class player, the European Tour is a fantastic place to be.Our job as the gatekeepers of the Tour is to provide bigger purses, greateer experiences and greater courses so that the players want to play here and play here more than they need to just to stay a member and so be a Ryder Cup player.ddddddddddddThe Ryder Cup is a critical component of our tour and it is a sensational event. But it shouldnt be the only reason why someone wants to be on our tour. Thats our job at hand right now.Pelley conceded that the topic may have only resurfaced due to the 17-11 defeat at Hazeltine, Europes heaviest in the biennial contest since 1981.McIlroy told the No Laying Up podcast that Caseys absence definitely hurt us and Westwood agreed with his team-mates assertion that the best 12 players should feature on each side, regardless of where they play.At the end of the day, youre still European and you still have the passion to play for Europe and represent them, Westwood said.If you prove that youre world class on, say, the PGA Tour and not the European Tour, why should that have any bearing on whether you can play or not?Speaking during the third round of the Turkish Airlines Open, Pelley also revealed there would be changes in how future Ryder Cup venues are selected, with Turkey a possible host.Italy beat Spain, Germany and Austria to the rights for the 2022 Ryder Cup after what the Tour itself described as an exhaustive and comprehensive bid process.The challenge I had with the process was that all of these organisations host tournaments for us and there is one winner and three losers, Pelley added. The three who were not awarded the Ryder Cup are still our partners. That I found was not a good way forward. ' ' '
