USCSPORTSREPORT.COM

A pair of defensive standouts that helped the University of South Carolina to aschool-record 11 wins this season will represent the Gamecocks in the 2012 Senior Bowl. Defensive endMelvin Ingram and safety Antonio Allen have both officially accepted invitations to the senior showcaseevent, it was announced today.

Three South Carolina men's tennis players are among the ITA Carolinas Regional rankings as released by the organization this week. In singles, sophomore Nick Jones is rated 14th while senior Ivan Machado is 17th. Machado and freshman Carl Eguez are rated the No. 9 doubles tandem in the region as well.

South Carolina women's basketball looks for its eighth straight win on Sunday at Florida.

The South Carolina men's basketball team (8-6) begins SEC play when it travels to face No. 2/2 Kentucky (14-1) on Saturday in an afternoon matinee at Rupp Arena. The contest is set to begin at 4 p.m. and will be televised on the SEC Network (check local listings).

A smothering defense and aggressive offense propelled South Carolina to a 65-55 win over No. 24/21 Vanderbilt in SEC women's basketball play on Thursday night at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks (13-2, 2-0 SEC) used two scoring runs in the first half to build a 10-point lead that the Commodores (12-2-, 0-1 SEC) could not overcome. The win is the seventh-straight victory for South Carolina, the longest since the 2005-06 season, and is the best start in SEC play since the 2001-02 team started 4-0 in conference play.