Downey rolls ankle; expects to play today

COLUMBIA -- Shaking off a thorough defeat at Tennessee would have been enough for Devan Downey and South Carolina.

The Gamecocks' All-SEC point guard, in the midst of one of the best individual seasons the league has seen in some time, has also been dealing with a left ankle injury.

Downey rolled it in practice Monday and was in a protective boot Tuesday, but he's expected to play tonight when South Carolina hosts Florida for a 8 p.m. tip inside Colonial Life Arena.

South Carolina (13-9, 4-4 SEC) is seemingly on shaky enough ground from game to game with Downey, who is averaging 23 a game this season and 30-plus a night in eight SEC games.

Without him? It's a thought that the Gamecocks would prefer not to consider.

Downey scored 26 in the loss at Tennessee, but even his performance was ragged on both ends. Coach Darrin Horn was not pleased with his defensive intensity, which likely led to his 5-for-20 shooting performance.

In reality, Horn says South Carolina's 79-53 loss in Knoxville was a delayed hangover from the big home victory Jan. 26 against then-No. 1 Kentucky.

The Gamecocks did not play well at all against Georgia in the game that followed, but they got away with it. They didn't get away with it at Tennessee.

Horn said his young team did not handle success well, as young teams are apt to do. The product of that was a lost-looking performance against the Volunteers.

USC scored 16 first-half points. Tennessee forward Wayne Chism, who always seems to save his best for the Gamecocks, had a career-high 30 points.

"As much as anything else, we want to play the way we're capable of," Horn said. "I'm really disappointed in our performance Saturday. The thing we've hung our hat on in this program is giving great effort, and that just didn't happen.

"You're not going to do anything well when you don't play hard. Hopefully our guys get a wake-up call."

Asked if there would be any lineup changes, Horn laughed and said he couldn't string together five players that performed well enough in Knoxville to deserve the floor. As a result, it'll be the familiar five and bench rotation.

Downey rested his ankle Tuesday, but all indications are he will be healthy enough to go tonight. Watch his left ankle during warm-ups to see how healthy he is.

As much as Tennessee has been a poor matchup for South Carolina since Horn arrived, Florida has been a pretty fair one.

Chandler Parsons made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to take down the Gamecocks in the teams' first meeting this season.

Zam Fredrick had the famed buzzer-beater a year ago to shock the Gators in Columbia.

Florida's played better since the teams met Jan. 23. The Gators (17-6, 6-3) have been leaning on their post play, even though the book is Florida's strength is the perimeter play of freshman Kenny Boynton and sophomore Erving Walker.

But it's been long, versatile posts Alex Tyus and Vernon Macklin who have helped Florida keep moving forward. Macklin, a Georgetown transfer, had 20 Saturday in a big home win against Mississippi State.

The Gators want to keep momentum going.

"They know it's a big game, too," Horn said.

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Meanwhile, South Carolina is at a crossroads. At 4-4 in SEC play at the midway point, Horn doesn't seem altogether dissatisfied. In fact, he seems pleased to at least be in striking distance of the team's goals, considering the losses of Dominique Archie and Mike Holmes.

But it's one thing to be in striking distance and another to strike. The difference will be what sort of effort level Horn gets on a nightly basis, beginning this evening.

"Our guys know it," Horn said. "When you see it on the film, it's not a negotiable thing whether you were giving effort or not. It's obvious it didn't happen."

Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com, check out the Gamecocks blog at postandcourier.com/blogs/gamecocks and follow him on Twitter (@gamecocksblog).