Playing 100 miles from home, things had gone to plan so far this week in the Charleston Classic for South Carolina’s basketball team.

Two wins in two days and a Saturday off to enjoy the city. Can’t get much better than that, right?

Then came the 13:30 mark of the first half in Sunday’s tournament title game against Miami.

That’s when fifth-year senior Dominique Archie went down with a right knee injury.

The Gamecocks looked strikingly different in the minutes that followed. The Hurricanes sprinted away down the stretch for an 85-70 victory before 2,531 fans inside Carolina First Arena.

“It never looked like we really recovered from that, emotionally more than anything,” South Carolina coach Darrin Horn said. “I think we looked as good in the first eight minutes as we looked all year long. We just weren’t the same after he went down.”

USC said Archie’s health would be evaluated today. He’ll likely have an MRI exam to determine the damage to his knee.

An Archie steal led to a breakaway dunk to put the Gamecocks up 9-2. The 6-7 wing landed funny on the right leg and immediately went to the floor, clutching it.

He was helped off by the team’s trainer and forward Sam Muldrow.

Archie was examined and put in a brace. He hobbled back in on crutches to helplessly watch the second half from behind the team bench as the Hurricanes crashed the boards, hit clutch 3-pointers and made it all look relatively easy against the Gamecocks.

Miami, mind you, was picked to finish near the bottom of the ACC.

“We talk to our guys about winning championships,” Miami coach Frank Haith said. “We’re hopeful we can utilize and learn a lot of things from this tournament.”

Haith, his staff and the team’s players all wished Archie well after the final horn.

“It hurts, I’m sure, to lose Archie,” Haith said.

James Dews led Miami (5-0) with 22 points, including a big 3-pointer as USC tried to cut into the lead late in the game.

Dwayne Collins added 17 points and 15 rebounds for his second double-double in three games here. Collins was named the tournament’s MVP.

“I don’t think many big men get double-doubles against them,” Collins said.

Miami outrebounded South Carolina 57-31 - something that Horn noted wouldn’t have been drastically different with Archie.

Point guard Devan Downey had a team-high 20 points for South Carolina (4-1), but he made only 2-of-11 3-point tries.

Miami’s 2-3 zone and Archie’s absence forced USC into a lot of long-range shots. And it went 11-for-34 (32.4 percent) from 3-point range.

“We didn’t want them in the paint,” Haith said. “We wanted them to shoot 3’s and contest the 3.”

Downey, who also had six rebounds, six assists and four steals Sunday, was the Gamecocks’ all-tournament representative.

La Salle guard Rodney Green, South Florida wing Dominique Jones and UNC Wilmington guard Chad Tomko were the other all-tournament selections.

Horn is right. The Gamecocks were crisp from the tip, looking better to start out than they had in contested wins here against La Salle and South Florida.

Archie was such a big reason why. He had seven points, two rebounds and the steal in his 61/2 minutes. He was aggressive and active on both ends of the floor.

Then, in a moment’s notice, he was gone.

“Stuff like that happens,” Downey said of the injury, adding that he should’ve done more as a leader to keep the team together. “You just have to keep going.”

Down 68-55 with five minutes to play, Downey helped orchestrate a last-gasp run for the Gamecocks.

Evka Baniulis’ free throw with 2:59 to go had cut the lead to 68-61. But Miami came right back with crucial 3-pointers from Dews and Adrian Thomas on consecutive trips down the floor.

Miami made 8-of-13 3-point shots (62 percent).

Suddenly, it was 77-63 and the Archie-less Gamecocks were out of fuel.

South Carolina, left out of the NCAA Tournament a year ago despite 20-plus wins, came here to help bolster its non-conference schedule.

Clearly, three wins and the tourney title would’ve been better. But, beyond the loss and the loss of Archie, Horn was still positive about USC’s experience in the Lowcountry.

“We got what we wanted out of it,” Horn said. “We played three really good basketball teams that are all going to have good seasons, I think.”

n Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com and check out the South Carolina blog at www.postandcourier.com/blogs/gamecocks.

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