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After beating ranked opponents Michigan and Syracuse last week, No. 20 South Carolina has stepped down in competition this week.But Gamecocks coach Frank Martin -- and his teams leaders -- want nothing to do with any letdown, as they prepare to host Florida International on Sunday.South Carolina handled Vermont rather easily, 68-50, on Thursday to improve to 7-0.However, Martin wasnt pleased with his teams focus in the first half. He warned his players in post-game press conference to be ready to go in practice and in Sundays game.If they dont, I feel bad for them, Martin said. Not because of me, but Sindarius (Thornwell), Duane (Notice), all of those guys.Someone is going get destroyed in practice, if they come out and dont come in here tomorrow ready to work. Thats the beauty of where were at as a program.When Martin arrived at South Carolina four years ago, player-driven discipline wasnt part of the programs makeup. It was something the intense veteran coach had to instill.Martin believes its ingrained in his program now.That had to be me four years ago (getting on players), Martin told reporters. Thats why I got suspended. I had guys that didnt understand that. That had to be me. Now, it doesnt have to be me. Ive got guys that have been through it. Theyre going to go out and practice and theyre going to demand that things be done a certain way.Whenever they see me getting mad, because they see one or two or three guys who arent doing what theyre asked to do, theyve got to deal with internal peer pressure, and its not from the 50-year-old. Its from the guy that lives in the dorm with them. Weve created that, and our leadership is real good.South Carolina and No. 1 Kentucky are the only two unbeaten teams left in the SEC.Thornwell, a versatile 6-5 senior guard, is a big reason the Gamecocks have been so impressive to start the season. He leads the team with 18.7 points per game, 6.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists, ranks in the top 10 in program history in assists and steals.Florida International, under coach Anthony Evans, comes into Sundays game at 3-5, with four of the Golden Panthers losses coming by six points or fewer.Senior forward Michael Kessens set a school record with 23 rebounds in Florida Internationals 84-81 overtime loss to Elon on Thursday. It was the third overtime loss of the season for the Panthers.Senior guard Donte McGill is FIUs primary scoring threat. Hes averaging 19.1 points per game.Kessens is averaging 14.9 points and 12.1 rebounds. The two seniors are the Panthers catalysts for a program in need of a turnaround.Florida International hasnt experienced a winning season since 2012-13 and is coming off a 13-19 campaign.Evans is in his fourth year at Florida International. He has a close relationship with Martin.Anthony (Evans) and I are friends, Martin told reporters after the Vermont game. 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Umberger scored twice to lead the Blue Jackets to a franchise-record for consecutive wins with a 5-3 victory Tuesday night over the Los Angeles Kings. Brad Peacock Jersey . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Up until Wednesday night, life in Rio was pretty good for players on the U.S. mens basketball team.They stayed on a luxury ship, and cruised past a couple of badly outmatched opponents. They played tourist at the Christ the Redeemer statue, and went on a field trip to watch Michael Phelps win yet another gold medal.Then an Australian team with a little pedigree of its own served notice that maybe the Olympic gold medal isnt such a foregone conclusion after all.Banged about and taken out of their game, the U.S. had to rally in the fourth quarter to salvage a 98-88 win that was even closer than the score indicated. Sheer talent -- and some timely 3s from Carmelo Anthony -- saved the Americans, but the Boomers from Down Under exposed some weaknesses even if they were not able to get the final job done.The look afterward of relief on the faces of some U.S. players told the story as well as anything.It got real, Paul George said. It definitely got real.This was supposed to be another romp in the park for the collection of NBA stars that is the U.S. Olympic team. Australia is good -- starting five NBA players of its own -- but no one expected it to be terribly close.That included the bookies in Las Vegas, who installed the U.S. team as a 27.5 point favorite after two laughers to open the tournament.What the bookies didnt realize was this wasnt just another opponent that was going to be intimidated. This was an Australian team plenty confident in its own abilities, a team that has played together in various incarnations for years.They battled for rebounds, fought over loose balls. They played hard and they played physical, refusing to give any possession away.Mostly, though, they played like they belonged on the same court as the U.S. players.I think its the Australian culture, said Joe Ingles, whose day job is playing for the Utah Jazz. Were not afraid of anyone. Were not going to back down to anyone. Were going to play the same way if its the top team or a low-ranked team.Andrew Bogut had warned his teammates before the game not to fall into the trap of paying too much respect to the Americans. Thats hard for most teams to keep from doing, even though the U.S. is full of new players and missing past Olympians like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.Once things got physical, though, it was anyones game. The Australians led by five at half, and still clunng to a 2-point lead early in the fourth quarter before Anthony and Kyrie Irving combined to turn the tide.ddddddddddddHe was special tonight, George said of Anthony, the four-time Olympian who scored 31 points. Hes the reason we won tonight.The U.S. wouldnt have been eliminated had it somehow lost, but there is a certain pride factor when it comes to U.S. Olympic basketball teams. Theyve won two gold medals and 19 Olympic games in a row after the culture of the program was changed by USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo in the wake of the Olympic debacle of 2004 and the loss in the 2006 World Championships.Colangelo was watching courtside as the team he built on the theory that chemistry is just as important as talent struggled to contain Australia defensively and was taken out of its offensive flow by the aggressive play of the Australians.There were only two possible scenarios after the first half tonight, Colangelo said. One is the streak is over. The second is that theyre not invincible because we had a close game.Thanks to Anthony and Irving, who combined for all but the last 2 points of the fourth quarter for the Americans, the second scenario was the one that played out. Afterward, almost everyone connected to the U.S. program tried to take a positive out of it, saying a close game will prove good for the team as it chases the gold.Its pretty obvious why its good for us, said coach Mike Krzyzewski, who screamed at an official after Boguts hard foul on Irving in the third quarter. You beat one of the best teams in the tournament. You beat a team thats going to vie for a gold medal. You beat a team that was undefeated and has played together for years, a really good basketball team so I dont know how that could not be good for us.It was good for Australia, too, though the Boomers had to wonder if anyone can beat the U.S. after just falling short in their best effort.Asked if the Americans could be beaten, longtime NBA player and assistant Australian coach Luc Longley didnt exactly offer a lot of hope.Not tonight, he said. We rolled all our dice tonight and couldnt beat them.----Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg ' ' '