The positive spin? Defensively, USF just played its best half of basketball under Stan Heath, statistically. The Bulls have held Northeastern to 4-for-29 shooting -- that's 13.8 percent.

The ugly side? With 3:07 left in the half, it was an 11-11 game here at the Sun Dome. The Bulls woke up and finished the half on an 11-0 run -- again, that's as many points as they scored in the first 17 minutes -- and are in control against Northeastern.

It's easily the lowest points a Stan Heath team has allowed in any half, and interestingly, it resets a mark set in ... the very last half played. High Point mustered just 18 in the second half Tuesday -- before that, the record was an ugly 19 points scored by Rutgers in the second half of last season's 68-45 USF win.

Despite the late burst, it's USF's lowest-scoring half under Heath -- they've had five 24-point halves before this one.

And, since you're wondering, the USF record for fewest points allowed? That'd be the 34 points scored by St. Peter's in 1985. USF's record low for scoring is 36, against Marquette in 1997. The record for field-goal defense is 23.3 percent shooting by FAU in a 2005 game.