NEW YORK (AP) – Carlos Powell thought about picking up the shiny, silver NIT championship trophy, then shook his head no.

It was close enough to touch, even if he wasn’t 6-foot-7, but the South Carolina forward looked at the photographer who asked him to lift it and politely declined.

“I’ll just wait until tomorrow,” Powell said Wednesday, less than 12 hours after South Carolina advanced to the NIT title game with a 75-67 victory over Maryland.

There’ll be plenty of time to hold it if the Gamecocks (19-13) knock off Saint Joseph’s (24-11) on Thursday night.

Powell had a chance to win the NIT at the end of his freshman season with the Gamecocks. They got all the way to the final but lost to Memphis. Outside of Little League Baseball, he’s never been on a championship team.

He has two days and one game left in his college career to change that.

Powell started slowly against Maryland but finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, his sixth double-double of the season and 10th of his career. He moved up to sixth on the school’s scoring list Tuesday and has played the most games in Gamecocks history (131).

“It’s something I don’t want to end, but I would like for it to end with a championship,” he said.

And he is going in with the right coach.

Dave Odom has made himself quite comfortable in the NIT. He has a championship, a runner-up finish and a 15-3 record in five trips.

Odom went three times with Wake Forest and won it all in 2000. He’s trying to duplicate the feat with the Gamecocks after falling one victory short in 2002.

“I certainly take pride in it,” Odom said of his NIT success. “There is not a coach in the country who aspires to have his legacy be ‘He was a great NIT coach.’ But I will tell you that I’m not ashamed of that.”

Odom and the Gamecocks won’t be the fans’ top choice against Saint Joe’s and quick-witted coach Phil Martelli. Saint Joseph’s campus in Philadelphia is about a 21/2-car ride to New York – without traffic.

“Thursday on our campus is a very big study night,” Martelli said with tongue firmly in cheek. “I think if we can get them to the library a little early tomorrow we might have in the neighborhood of 6,000 people here.”

Odom said he wouldn’t have picked to play the Hawks, but now that both teams are there he is ready to embrace the scene. That includes the circus, which is holding its annual New York run.

“Madison Square Garden turns me on,” said Odom, who has never coached at a university north of Virginia. “I like smelling the animals. We’re always here when the circus is here. I kind of walk around, and there are elephants around. Go in the arena and you can smell some animals, too.

“It’s the way the game should be played.”

But he wants to make sure Saint Joseph’s plays the game his team dictates. Odom will press and trap, but not for 40 minutes. He wants to control the tempo, and speed it up.

The tough part will come when the Gamecocks have the ball.

The Hawks’ Pat Carroll has being firing in 3s at a sensational pace but it’s defense that makes this team win. In the NIT, the Hawks have allowed 52.6 points per game. Only Holy Cross reached 60.

“Their defense is the most underrated and untalked about element of their game,” Odom said. “I think it is every bit as good as their offense. Not complicated, just effective.”

The Hawks have played five games in this tournament to four for South Carolina. They also played their quarterfinal at Texas A&M while the Gamecocks stayed home.

Saint Joseph’s turned around a 3-6 start and is 21-5 since Jan. 1.

“It’s been dramatic,” Martelli said. “I hope that the players will be able to call on this for the rest of their lives. It’s never as dark as you think it was or as dark as you think it is. Something like that.”

Saint Joe’s felt the urging of the crowd in the 70-58 semifinal victory over Memphis, and wants to ride that to the title.

Carroll and fellow senior John Bryant can relate to Powell’s quest. They also are seeking their first college championship and want to leave their mark on the school that went to the NCAA regional finals last year on the backs of Jameer Nelson and Delonte West.

Carroll, the Atlantic 10 co-player of the year, is averaging 20.6 points per game in the NIT and has buried 18 of the Hawks’ 32 3-pointers in the tournament.

“To make it a good program, you have to be successful many years in a row,” Carroll said. “I think we’re getting toward that right now.”

AP-ES-03-30-05 1739EST