nt. Deng said he tried to work out individually on Saturday

Will Muschamps early offensive struggles at South Carolina might look familiar to SEC fans.Two years after Muschamps tenure as Florida coach ended due to poor offensive performance, his South Carolina attack sits last in the Southeastern Conference and 124th out of 128 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.Muschamp said no one played well offensively in a 17-10 loss at Kentucky last week and are working to improve things this Saturday for No. 9 Texas A&M (4-0, 2-0 SEC).It goes back to what you do well. And thats what were searching for on offensive right now, the coach said Tuesday.The Aggies could make that difficult, especially after a 45-24 victory over then No. 17 Arkansas. Texas A&M has given up just 16 points a game this year, trailing only Florida and Alabama among SEC teams.It has been a mix of inexperience, mistakes and injuries that have waylaid South Carolinas offense. The Gamecocks (2-2, 1-2) played without two of their better receivers in Deebo Samuel and Randrecous Davis in a 17-10 loss at Kentucky last week. It was also the first true road start for freshman quarterback Brandon McIlwain, who enrolled in January.McIlwain, who has not thrown an interception in 91 pass attempts this season, passed for 177 yards while completing 15 of 30 passes. The Gamecocks were tied at 10-all entering the fourth quarter, but managed only 36 yards on 15 plays in the final period.South Carolinas chances ended when McIlwain was sacked for a 19-yard loss on fourth-and-17 at the Kentucky 35.We went back and looked at it and it was all mental mistakes, receiver Terry Googer said. We know we can fix it.Theres little to fix right now for Texas A&M, which started 4-0 for the third straight season. Both those years, though, the Aggies finished 4-5 after their hot starts.We have a little bit of a different feel this year than last year and two years ago, Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said.Two years ago, Muschamp was searching for offensive answers in his fourth season as Floridas coach. Instead, the Gators floundered at 113th nationally in total offense and Florida let Muschamp go.Muschamp got a second SEC chance at South Carolina last December and hired Kurt Roper, his offensive leader the final Florida season.Muschamp said in the spring the Gamecocks had enough good players to compete for an SEC Eastern Division title. But theres been little evidence of that early on.We can beat a lot of teams. We have the talent to play at a very high level, tailback A.J. Turner said. We just have to do the right things and cut down on the mistakes.Those include errors by McIlwain. Turner detailed one play in the fourth quarter where McIlwain kept the ball on a zone read instead of handing off to a running back on what Turner thought wouldve gone for a touchdown. Instead McIlwain managed just a short gain.We got to come together. Weve got to shake it off, Turner said. We cant be worried about being frustrated, being upset about whats happening. Weve just got to work through it.Receiver Davis remains out along with offensive line starters Donnell Stanley and Blake Muschamp said McIlwain has played well overall and will start against Texas A&M.McIlwain, who Muschamp has prevented from speaking with media, has held up well, according to his teammates. Googer said the freshman remains positive and upbeat and keeps leading us.Linebacker Bryson Allen-Williams said McIlwains baseball background -- he was considered a high-round Major League Baseball draft pick before choosing college football -- means he knows how to put the past in the past. If you strikeout, you cant go up next at bat thinking about the strikeout, Allen-Williams said. Youve got to look forward. Thats what he does.---APs college football site at http://collegefootball.ap.orgSwell Flaske Blå Marmor . Malkin got tangled up with Detroits Luke Glendening early in the third period and his left skate took the brunt of collision with the boards behind Pittsburghs net. Swell Flaske . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. http://www.swellflaskenorge.com/ . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium. Swell Flaske Marmor . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. Swell Flaske Norge .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. CHICAGO -- The suggestion that hes a flopper drew a grin as wide as his wingspan from LeBron James. Miamis superstar shot down the accusations from the Chicago Bulls, saying they reminded him of the days when some claimed he was overrated and questioned his ability to lead a team to a championship. "Its kind of the same (as when) I heard people say I was overrated," he said Sunday. "Its kind of like the same response." The Heat are trying to repeat as champions after a dominant regular season, and if they keep this up, they wont have to worry about Chicago much longer. Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals is Monday, and Miami has a chance to take a 3-1 lead in a series with no shortage of hard fouls, technicals, ejections and fines. One thing in short supply is healthy bodies for the Bulls, with Luol Deng still recovering from a spinal tap and Kirk Hinrich from a bruised left calf. The odds that either would play seemed slim at best on Sunday. Meanwhile, coach Tom Thibodeaus wallet is a little lighter after the league smacked him with a $35,000 fine on Sunday. That hit came after he accused James of flopping on that shove to the floor and questioned the officiating after the Heat took Game 3, saying the Bulls werent going to get the benefit of the calls. Thibodeau had already addressed the media by the time the punishment was announced and declined comment through a team spokesman. Yet there was still plenty of talk about that incident between James and Mohammed. "None of this is new to us," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Nobody can hide from the fact that the games will be decided between those four lines. And our guys understand that." The Bulls Taj Gibson expects more of the same. "Both teams are tough and aggressive," he said. "Its playoff basketball. Were both rivals. They acknowledged it. We acknowledged it. Its just guys going after it playing like they dont like each other. But its just playoff basketball." In Game 3, Joakim Noah had already shoved Miamis Chris Andersen after he landed on a driving Nate Robinson late in the first quarter, and things nearly boiled over early in the second. With James dribbling near midcourt, Mohammed reached in to take a foul and stop a potential break. Their arms got tangled. Mohammed fell, and when he got up, he gave James a hard shove to the court. Both players picked up technicals. Mohammed got tossed, making him the third Bulls player to get ejected in the series along wwith Noah and Taj Gibson.dddddddddddd "I dont need to flop," James said. "I play an aggressive game. I dont flop. Ive never been one of those guys." Its probably worth noting that James accused the Bulls of crossing the line a few times back in late March, when they beat Miami at the United Center to snap Miamis 27-game win streak. "What I said is what I said, but I dont want to get involved too much with what everybody else says about us, about me," he said. "Its nothing I havent heard before in my career. Its nothing. ... Im here to play basketball and do whatever it takes for our team to win. So what a coach and players say to me and about me, I dont really care." Both teams have concerns that stretch beyond the officiating. For the Bulls, it remains their health. Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of Derrick Roses surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, and the only suiting up hes done for a game since then has involved a jacket and tie. Just about every other key player has missed time at some point, and thats continued into the post-season. Deng has missed five straight games, Hinrich has sat out six in a row, and both looked like longshots at best to play in Game 4 with Thibodeau saying theyre day to day. Hinrich did little other than some shooting and ride a bike, and Deng couldnt do much, either. "My body, my system, is not reacting well to anything Im doing right now," Deng said. He said hes feeling a little better and has regained two of the 15 pounds he lost because of the illness, but when he tries to exert himself, well, he really cant. Deng said he tried to work out individually on Saturday and wound up vomiting. He attempted to practice on Sunday and became ill during warmups, forcing him to stop. "I spoke to coach a little bit, If I could give 5 or 10 minutes, give these guys a little bit of a break but I cant even get through a regular warmup," Deng said. The Heat, meanwhile, continue to face questions about Dwyane Wade and his sore right knee. He took just seven shots and scored 10 points in Game 3, but he insisted that had more to do with the flow of the game and the Bulls packing the lane than his health. "A lot of my opportunities were not in the flow of the offence," he said. "If I would have shot a lot, it would have been forced. When I had the ball, I tried to make the best play. Sometimes, its to get two guys on me and pass it." ' ' '