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Tampa Bay Live Event Coverage
College Basketball
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Larry D. Lieberman (RSE - USF Correspondent): Posted on Friday, February 18, 2011 12:41 PM
Pitt Bounces South Florida, 67-55 Pittsburgh, Pa. – (RSE) Playing for the third straight time without junior guard Ashton Gibbs, who is their lone 3-point threat and leading scorer, the Pittsburgh Panthers (24-2, 12-1 Big East) knew that dominating the paint was plan A for victory procurement. And, fortunately for them, they came into Wednesday night’s action as the nation’s leader in rebounding margin. Better yet, they had the light-scoring South Florida Bulls (8-19, 2-12) on the opposing bench. In front of 12,519 fans at the Petersen Events Center, the AP #4 Panthers managed to fulfill their primary objective by doubling-down the Bulls in rebounding by a margin of 35-17. On numerous occasions, the Panthers’ front court flexed their muscles by backing USF defenders under the hoop and dunking over them. Even freshman Talib Zanna, a reserve forward who totaled just 5 points over the last 7 games, managed to drop 11 points from the low post position. The final score was 67-55 in favor of Pitt but, a bit surprisingly, the Bulls put up a decent battle in making the Panthers earn their 12-1 start to The Big East season - a program best. Having gained some steam on sophomore Shaun Noriega’s back-to-back 3-point missiles just before the half - coupled with the surreptitious implementation of a 2-2-1 zone - the Bulls found themselves in position to draw some bold ink on the game’s headlines at the 9:56 mark of the second half. Senior Jarrid Famous had just made a pair of free throws to cap a 12-minute stretch of turnover-free basketball which had drawn South Florida to within 45-44. The master plan was seemingly coming together for Bulls Coach Stan Heath, who tinkered tirelessly with his lineup all night in a desperate “close your eyes and swing hard” attempt to reward effort disproportionately to reputation. Then, it all fell apart a la “Groundhog Day.” (Members of The Associated Press: No change in font necessary.) Noriega made a nifty steal but missed a hard-charging lay-up which, in retrospect, would have been okay with Coach Heath had three Bulls players not failed to grab the rebound from Nasir Robinson - the only Panther on the scene. That piece of infamy was exacerbated by a subsequent avalanche of 4 USF turnovers and a drought of no field goals in 7-plus minutes and no points whatsoever in over 5. South Florida sophomore stand-out Jawanza Poland (who was swiped from the court several times by Heath and held scoreless in points and rebounds), was a key cog in the stretch of surrender by tossing up 2 wild misses from close range. The result was a 13-2 run by Pittsburgh and a lurid reminder that South Florida must click on every cylinder to compete in The Big East, America’s most unforgiving house of basketball terror. For Pitt, it was a ho-hum night statistically. Their biggest lead came in the waning minutes at 63-47, following the Bulls’ collapse. Robinson and Brad Wanamaker each had 13 points and Robinson squeezed a game-high 10 rebounds to be sure his name would be honorably mentioned. South Florida was led by Noriega’s encouraging 11 points and 10 apiece from Augustus Gilchrist and Famous. The Bulls, including Poland, are better than this and Heath knows it. That said, it takes time to build chemistry in a unit which assembles its top-line talent from the junior college ranks. The Bulls have 4 JUCO transfers … and no Dominique Jones to balance them out any longer. South Florida returns to action against #9 Georgetown on Saturday at The Sun Dome in Tampa. Famous, Poland and the gang will need to do a better job of corralling rebounds and avoiding mental miscues if they are to compete against the Hoyas. Tip time is 7 PM and kids 17-and-under are free at The Sun Dome as always. Pittsburgh comes to Tampa on March 2 for a rematch. The Panthers are undefeated on the road in Big East play and will be seeking to avenge their loss in Tampa last year. For further analysis of South Florida athletics - plus Lightning, Rays, Bucs and golf coverage - tune into Rocket Sports radio on ESPN Tampa Bay 1040 AM every Saturday from 10 AM to noon. A radio stream - as well as time-sensitive content and features across sports genres - is also accessible at rocketsports-ent.com. |
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Larry D. Lieberman: Posted on Sunday, February 13, 2011 2:17 AM
Notre Dame Carves up South Florida, 78-55 Tampa, Fl. – (RSE) If you’re a fan of Boston Celtics-style basketball from the early 80s built upon team chemistry, selflessness and precision passing, your sub-conscience is likely nagging you right now if you were not among the season-high Sun Dome crowd of 6,104 on the USF Tampa campus this Saturday afternoon. A similarly nagging psychological block overcame Richard Dreyfuss in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” around the same time those Celtics began dominating the hardwood; and he couldn’t clear his mind without hauling a truck full of dirt into his living room in a fit of insanity. The #8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (21-4, 10-3 Big East), perhaps celebrating St. Patrick’s Day early in honor of those Boston Celtics and their shared heritage, went out and put on a clinical shellacking of the South Florida Bulls (8-18, 2-11 Big East) by a score of 78-55. It wasn’t even that close. The Notre Dame balanced attack was led by sophomore reserve forward Jack Cooley, who posted 18 points on 9 of 10 shooting from the field. Senior Carleton Scott was omnipresent in a support role by swiping 10 rebounds to go with 13 points. In the post-game wrap, Irish Head Coach Mike Brey, having just coached his 500 collegiate game, was self-effacing as always when he said of his team’s near-flawless execution, “This week got us confident.” After the Irish ran off 22 straight points over a 7-minute span in the first half, the Bulls reaction was to sleepwalk through all five stages of gerontologist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ “On Death and Dying” before an increasingly lifeless crowd - reaching the acceptance stage before halftime. Only sophomore guard Shaun Noriega played as though he was aggravated; and his career-high 23 points on 6 of 10 from the 3-point line was the Bulls’ lone fabulous parting prize. It’s doubtful that frustrated Bulls Coach Stan Heath would have accepted the requisite “version of the home game” if offered per consolation protocol. Notre Dame’s play was a testament to basketball’s beauty when strategy and execution are melded on the floor. All five Irish starters scored in double digits. Their 23 assists led to easy buckets, which were converted into a robust shooting percentage of 55.7. South Florida shot just 30.4% and dished out only 8 assists in scoring less than 60 points for the third straight outing as leading scorers Augustus Gilchrist and Jawanza Poland each managed only 3 points. Reserve point guard LaVonte Dority - a freshman - logged 17 minutes of playing time at Anthony Crater’s expense as a growingly desperate Coach Heath looked to shake the Bulls out of their funk. The Bulls get no breaks going forward as they play at Pittsburgh on Wednesday night at 7 PM. The Pittsburgh Panthers (#4 in the AP poll) took down Villanova on Saturday night and they’ll be in no mood to lose ground in the race to win The Big East. Oy-vey …. |
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Larry D. Lieberman: Posted on Friday, February 11, 2011 4:19 AM
Bulls Make Marquette Sweat in 59-58 Win Tampa, Fl. – (RSE) It’s long been the conventional protocol of sports psychologists to ignore the little things which fall against your team and accept that losing a close contest signifies that your opponent was simply the better team that day. When the Packers beat the Steelers last Sunday in Super Bowl XLV, Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin did not lay the blame on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for his two interceptions; nor did he succumb to the temptation to rationalize the loss by blaming his team’s coaching staff, its kicker, the officiating or even plain ole’ cruddy luck. That said, the South Florida Bulls could hardly be culpable for grousing about how the basketball deities have marginalized their existence. And the Bulls’ 59-58 loss to the Marquette Golden Eagles before a feisty Sun Dome crowd of 4,153 on Wednesday night was yet another dose of time-released misfortune. Behind junior forward Jae Crowder’s 14 points, including 4-0f-5 from beyond the 3-point stripe, the Marquette Golden Eagles used an up-tempo, full-court press to harass the Bulls into beginning to surrender a 16-point lead midway through the second half. Marquette senior Jimmy Butler came off the bench - snapping a streak of 57 consecutive starts - and posted 12 points and 6 rebounds for Coach Buzz Williams, whose floor-stomping zeal even had press row minding its posture. The Bulls officially handed over the lead at the 4:26 mark of the final period on a Crowder 3-pointer which gave Marquette a 54-53 advantage. A Butler layup and step-back 3 from Crowder inside of 2 minutes finished the Golden Eagles’ scoring. South Florida was led by Toarlyn Fitzpatrick’s double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds, which were season-best totals in both categories. Fitzpatrick has rewarded Coach Stan Heath for his insertion into the starting lineup by averaging 12.5 points and 7 rebounds over the past four games in tenacious style. Augustus Gilchrist also chipped in 11 points from the low post as the Bulls continue to develop front court chemistry to match their size and athleticism. Marquette tried desperately to be hospitable guests by missing 7 consecutive free throws down the stretch but the Bulls returned the favor by systematically surrendering 18 turnovers as part of a season-long struggle with attention to detail. The Golden Eagles turned it over an exceedingly stingy 8 times. Marquette junior Darius Johnson-Odom, who averages 16.4 points per game, was mostly held in check by a Bull’s defensive posse led by junior Hugh Robertson. It was the first time in two months that Johnson-Odom was contained to less than 13 points. Though the Bulls stand as one of the taller and more physically imposing teams in college hoops, their share of fortuitous bounces seems to be (ironically) stocked on a mile-high shelf beyond metaphorical reach. Case in point: For the second time in three games, a 3-point basket by South Florida - a scarcity already - was taken off the scoreboard as Coach Stan Heath called timeout as Bulls guard Anthony Crater went airborne for the would-be tying shot with 8 seconds left in the game. Compounding the Bulls’ malaise in brutal fashion, Fitzpatrick banked in a free throw he intended to miss in an effort to create a tip-in scoring opportunity with three seconds left. The accidental “score” from the foul line allowed Marquette to inbound the ball from their baseline and run out the clock for the victory. The Bulls return to action on Saturday at The Sun Dome for a 12 Noon tip-off against #7 Notre Dame. With seven Big East teams now ranked in the top 15 in the AP Poll, the Bulls will need a vociferous crowd to spoil the Fighting Irish’s run toward the post season. The Irish are suspect on the road and the Bulls have a realistic opportunity to gain some much-needed respect by beating a ranked opponent for the third time in the last two seasons. Kids 17 and under are free for the game as with all USF men’s and women’s home games on campus. |
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Larry D. Lieberman: Posted on Thursday, February 03, 2011 5:38 AM
Providence a Touch Too Much for Bulls by 68-63 Providence, R.I. – With a nail gnawing 68-63 conquest on Wednesday evening, the Providence Friars continued to remind the South Florida Bulls that the margin for error in The Big East Conference is measured in inches rather than feet. Senior Marshon Brooks was the most dynamic player on the floor in posting 24 points for Providence, which was just over his seventh-best-nationally average of 23.3 per game. Sophomore Vincent Council pitched in 12 points of his own to help the Friars offset the Bulls’ Jawanza Poland’s Herculean 20 points, as well as Toarlyn Fitzpatrick’s career high of 13. The crowd of 3,785 at Dunkin’ Donuts Center was treated to a screening of USF’s adaptation of “Groundhog Day” as the Bulls again showed enough talent to win but fell just shy on the scoreboard. Down 47-49 with 8:22 to go, USF’s Shaun Noriega buried an open 3-pointer which was erased by a foul on Providence’s Ray Hall which sent USF’s Ron Anderson, Jr. to the line for a one-and-one. Anderson promptly missed the front end and Providence went on a run which resulted in the biggest lead of the game for either team - 9 points. On cue, however, the Bulls came clawing back and - on consecutive 3-point shots by Fitzpatrick and Augustus Gilchrist - USF tied the score at 58 with 2:49 to play. Brooks responded for Providence with 5 quick points on a contested 3-pointer and breakaway dunk; and the Friars sent the Bulls home to heal yet another gash to their ego. There were several positive signs of things to come for the Bulls. Guard Anthony Crater joined Poland in asserting his athleticism, as both guards drove the lane effectively and distributed the ball for easy looks at the hoop. Though they continued to be plagued by unforced turnovers and inconsistency in finishing around the basket, the Bulls continued to dominate the boards and shoot well from the foul line. In the absence of towering 6’11 senior Jarrid Famous (back in Tampa nursing a sore back), Fitzpatrick had his best game of the year while logging full-time minutes. The first half, in particular, was a testament to the parity in talent between the two squads. Providence scrapped their man-to-man defense midway through the first half in favor of a 3-2 zone, which resulted in an 11-0 run for the Friars. The Bulls answered by clearing out for Poland to successfully pull up for three and also drive the lane on several occasions in acrobatic style. The half ended in a stalemate at 30-29 in favor of USF. In prototypical fashion, the Bulls seemed to run out of steam late in the game and fall shy on will. USF returns to Tampa to face 17th ranked Syracuse at The St. Pete Times Forum on Saturday at 2 PM. The Orange bounced back from a four game losing streak by winning at Connecticut on Wednesday night. Of additional note: Rocket Sports & Entertainment will be covering the game with a live remote from across the street at The Luxury Box Restaurant at 10 AM to be broadcast on ESPN 1040. Those carrying an RSEN Club Card will be offered a courtesy beverage for coming out to support the Bulls as they continue their foray into the basketball beast which is The Big East. |
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Larry D. Lieberman: Posted on Friday, January 28, 2011 6:03 AM
USF Holds Serve Against DePaul, 71-60 Tampa, Fl. – The University of South Florida Bulls did what was expected of them by handing the DePaul Blue Demons a 71-60 defeat on Thursday night at The Sun Dome in Tampa. The announced crowd of 3,465 was treated to the high-flying antics of junior Jawanza Poland, whose pair of thunderous dunks in the second half brought the crowd to its feet as part of a focused all-around effort to shake off the Bulls’ pedestrian showing at West Virginia on Sunday. The Bulls were led by junior Hugh Robertson’s 16 points, who was backed by 11 points each from Poland and Toarlyn Fitzpatrick. Their efforts offset another impressive effort by DePaul’s freshman sensation Cleveland Melvin, who posted 17 points to continue his string of 13 consecutive double-digit performances. Junior Krys Faber also pitched in with a respectable, season-high 16 point performance to go with his 6 rebounds. In losing the contest, DePaul suffered its 21st straight Big East loss, as well as its 27th consecutive defeat on the road. The young Blue Demons were clearly undermanned and undersized against the Bulls as part of their rebuilding process under new coach Oliver Purnell - and that is clearly a morbid convolution of characteristics for a squad trying to win in America’s toughest college basketball conference. The Bulls, on the other hand, seemed buoyed by the opportunity to play a squad who came in struggling - and they looked as confident as they have all season. Their propensity for mental miscues, the bane of their existence all season, seemed to fade from consciousness as they committed a very self-effacing 11 turnovers. Additionally, the Bulls stepped up their game from the 3-point line, hitting 6 of 12 from behind the stripe. While USF’s physical advantage formed the foundation for their success in bumping their Big East record to 2-7 (8-14 overall), DePaul’s deficiency in depth was also a contributing factor in the Blue Demons’ slide to 0-8 (6-14 overall). The Bulls outscored the Blue Demons by a stark tally of 26-9 off the bench and a host of USF’s second-line players were key cogs in their 10-0 run in the second half which sealed the game’s outcome. South Florida next travels to frost-bitten Rhode Island to meet Providence College, the only other team the Bulls have beaten in Big East competition this season. Providence will serve as a true test of the Bulls’ resolve as the Friars will be obsessed with revenge and bouncing high after defeating #15 Louisville and #7 Villanova in back-to-back games this past week. Tip-off is 7 pm this coming Wednesday, February 2nd, which gives the Bulls time to have their arctic wear tailored to specification. |
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