[Strikeout King]

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina's first victory over a No. 1 team will cost $25,000.


The Southeastern Conference fined South Carolina that amount Wednesday for violating league rules against permitting fans on the playing area following a 68-62 victory over top-ranked Kentucky on Tuesday night.


As the game neared the end, security at the Colonial Life Arena held up a yellow rope to keep the people off the court. However, South Carolina guard Devan Downey urged students to join the players in celebration as time ran out. The Gamecocks had been 0-7 in the program's history against

No. 1 teams before the Wildcat win.


The scene was so crazy, Kentucky coach John Calipari headed straight for the locker room instead of walking to South Carolina's bench for the traditional postgame handshake.


This was considered South Carolina's second such violation, the first coming five years ago after another win over Kentucky.


"This policy is designed to create a safe environment for everyone who participates and attends our athletic contests," SEC commissioner Mike Slive said in a statement. "The security and protection of our student athletes, coaches, officials and fans is our primary concern."


The policy went into effect on Dec. 1, 2004, less than two weeks after a brawl involving players and fans during a game between the NBA's Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills, and one day after another fight among players in a Clemson-South Carolina football game.


A violation within the next three years, according to SEC policy, would bring South Carolina a $50,000 fine.


South Carolina was last fined for storming the court in February 2005 after a 73-61 victory over then-No. 3 Kentucky. That penalty was $5,000.


South Carolina athletic director Eric Hyman said after Tuesday's win he had messaged Slive to see if beating a No. 1 team earned him a discount on the expected fine. Hyman said he had fans coming up to him giving him $1 bills to help pay any fine.


Hyman did not return a message from The Associated Press on Wednesday.



However, in a statement, he praised the fans for their enthusiasm, calling the atmosphere at the arena "as exciting as any time since I've been here."


"However, the SEC schools voted unanimously on the sportsmanship policy and subsequent fines for violating that policy, and we support it fully," he said.


Hyman continued that while he was pleased with the game's outcome, "I was also very concerned that we follow this policy to prevent a dangerous situation from occurring."


Danger seemed like the furthest thing from any South Carolina player or supporter's mind once time ran out.


Downey pointed to the crowd, yelling "I told you so" after the win. When asked about a potential SEC fine Tuesday night, he smiled and said, "I'm pretty sure the university's got some money somewhere to pay the fine."


On Wednesday, Downey acknowledged telling fans to join the players' celebration.


"I'm not saying it's right, wrong or whatever, but when you beat a No. 1 team in the country, you want to remember that moment in a special way," he said. "Yeah, I told them to come on the court."


Athletic spokesman Steve Fink said the department intended to pay.


[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4863093"]South Carolina celebration after win over Kentucky costs school $25,000 - ESPN@@AMEPARAM@@http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4861765@@AMEPARAM@@4861765[/ame]

[NYY10]

good.. I hate when ANY team storms the courts.. you never know what can happen.. A player can get injured or even worse,

[Stardust]

Storming the court has been going on forever. I love it. I certainly didn't like it that it happened as a result of the Cats going down, but I for one that it was awesome that those kids got to do it.

Go to the '84 NBA Finals in Boston, game 7 against the Lakers and look at the crowd during the last minute of the game. They had the entire bleachers cleared and were acutally on the out of bounds line. When that final second went off, it was an avalanche.

I have never seen where a player or fan has ever been reported injured in these events.

For USC, this will be the most delightful $20K that the school has ever paid. Good for them.

I hope it is the UK fans that get to storm the court on April 15th and I hope UK has to pay a $100K fine. It will be well worth it!

[Aslan]

The fans had a legit reason to storm the court after beating the #1 team in the land. There should be no fine. However, sometimes fans storm the court when it's really not the "win" to do that, ya know.

[theVILLE]

Im sure the school doesnt mind that much! i would have stormed the floor as well

[Navajo4life]

If the fans did not storm the court, then Demarcus Cousins would not have to be answering questions on whether or not he punched a student from South Carolina, however, in the defense of Boogie, if he punched this kid in the face, the student would definitely need new teeth and there would be bruises, so keep your lies to yourself, just be glad that you beat us and live with that....

[theVILLE]

If the fans did not storm the court, then Demarcus Cousins would not have to be answering questions on whether or not he punched a student from South Carolina, however, in the defense of Boogie, if he punched this kid in the face, the student would definitely need new teeth and there would be bruises, so keep your lies to yourself, just be glad that you beat us and live with that....

What are you talking about..i had not heard anything about cousins bunching someone in the face...so if cousins does it its ok?

[king360]

They should take the win and give it to UK thats rediculous..lol

[nky]

A small price to pay for a good win

[15thRegionSlamaBamma]

best money they have spent in a long time call up the alums

[ROCKSOLID69]

I dont see nothing wrong with it. UK stormed the field after beating #1 LSU in football.

[Jerry_Damage01]

While I think it's a cool thing for fans to do and be a part of, I fully understand why you have to have no tolerance for it and fine them. Nothing has happened yet, but all it takes is for it to happen one time. Say that you have a close game and you lose on a buzzer beater and the fans storm the court. Then one of the other players goes all Ron Artest on everyone. Or even worse, say some fan takes it on himself to attack one of the opposing team and actually injures that person.

[greenstuff22]

Im sure the school doesnt mind that much! i would have stormed the floor as well

i'd say you would have, UL sure hasn't gave you a chance to do so.

[Wildcatk23]

I dont see nothing wrong with it. UK stormed the field after beating #1 LSU in football.

And Ul on that game winning Td.

[Colonel Kill]

I hate that it was my Cats that lost but love to see fans storm the floor after beating a #1. I am sure the school has no problem paying the fine, after all as coach Horn said it was the biggest win in school history.

[MSU Eagle]

I hate this! The SEC and NCAA are pretty much saying "you all can come to the game, but don't get excited or have fun." It was their first win against a number 1 team for goodness sakes. Let them enjoy it!

[logmountainboy64]

i think it should be allowed

[Jerry_Damage01]

I hate this! The SEC and NCAA are pretty much saying "you all can come to the game, but don't get excited or have fun." It was their first win against a number 1 team for goodness sakes. Let them enjoy it!

There's a difference between having fun and a safety issue. What if some fans stormed the court and assaulted John Wall? What if a fan came down and did something worse to a UK player and injured them? The fans are not supposed to be on the court for a reason. Just because nothing happened doesn't mean that something won't happen in the future when fans storm the court. The SEC and NCAA are taking the right approach by fining them and not condoning it.

[Stardust]

^ maybe at some point that will happen, but like I said before, this has been going on for a very long time and with no incident. Good luck try to stop 10K from storming the court if they want to. Better put a cage around the court because you will never be successful in stopping them. The Students didn't pay a dime, and I'm pretty confident the school is not going to fine the students...

[Jerry_Damage01]

^ maybe at some point that will happen, but like I said before, this has been going on for a very long time and with no incident. Good luck try to stop 10K from storming the court if they want to. Better put a cage around the court because you will never be successful in stopping them. The Students didn't pay a dime, and I'm pretty confident the school is not going to fine the students...

The incident may not even come from a fan, it may come from an angry player going Ron Artest on someone. If anything like this ever happens, and as long as emotions run high at sporting events it eventually will, it will give the NCAA a black eye. Security will be increased at sporting events and I would bet it won't happen again after that. Should it happen I'd imagine the NCAA would fine/sanction them more than just 25,000. I realise that it's all in fun, but there's a huge safety issue there and as long as it goes on, it's just asking for something to happen.

[Captain Backdoor]

:popcorn:

[theVILLE]

i'd say you would have, UL sure hasn't gave you a chance to do so.

last year was my year bub???I am actually proud of ul playing within 9 points of UK...dont get me wrong id loved for them to bet uk but i really did not expect it..

[theVILLE]

There's a difference between having fun and a safety issue. What if some fans stormed the court and assaulted John Wall? What if a fan came down and did something worse to a UK player and injured them? The fans are not supposed to be on the court for a reason. Just because nothing happened doesn't mean that something won't happen in the future when fans storm the court. The SEC and NCAA are taking the right approach by fining them and not condoning it.

So was anything wrong with it when uk done it in football? Never heard anything about that

[Jerry_Damage01]

So was anything wrong with it when uk done it in football? Never heard anything about that

It was wrong for UK to do it in Football. I in no way, shape, or form condone it. I realize why it happens, but it's asking for trouble.