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Live blog: USF men's hoops vs. Villanova
Greetings from Tampa Bay Times Forum (ching!), where USF hopes to continue its strong home play and earn a season sweep of Villanova, amazing as that sounds. We'll have updates throughout the game, so stop by with your comments and questions ...
Bulls hoping to stick around on NCAA bubble
TAMPA -- Stan Heath is careful not to allow his focus -- or his team's -- to shift beyond its next opponent and the next must-win game, but with a home victory Wednesday night against Villanova, the Bulls will have a rightful place in conversation for the NCAA Tournament bubble.
How many wins does USF (15-10, 8-4 in Big East) need to make the NCAAs? The consensus is that a 4-2 finish by the Bulls entering the Big East tournament -- that's wins against Villanova and at Pittsburgh, then at home against Cincinnati and West Virginia, allowing for losses at Syracuse and Louisville -- would give the Bulls a worthy resume if they can win at least one game in Manhattan. ... Read more
Late run pushes Bulls to key win at Providence
We'll have a full story from Providence shortly, but USF's men's basketball team finished the game on a 14-2 run to pull out a key 55-48 win at Providence on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulls (15-10, 8-4 in Big East) trailed 46-41 with 2:30 to play, but saw guard Shaun Noriega come off the bench and hit back-to-back threes for a 47-46 lead. From there, the Bulls played strong defense and hit their free throws, going 6-for-8 in the final minute to earn their third Big East road win of the season. Victor Rudd led the Bulls with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The win completes a season sweep of the Friars, as the Bulls pulled out an 81-78 win in Tampa on Jan. 29. USF returns home to face Villanova on Wednesday.
'Fantastic' Robertson leads Bulls past Pittsburgh
TAMPA -- Pittsburgh came in red-hot, winners of four straight, and USF was coming off a 30-point loss at Georgetown, but you'd never know it from the two teams playing in Tampa Bay Times Forum on Wednesday night.
The Bulls played stellar defense, led by senior guard Hugh Robertson, who shut down Pitt star Ashton Gibbs and scored a season-high 18 points of his own in a convincing 63-51 win.
"The defense was outstanding," coach Stan Heath said. "I'd like to bottle that and take that everywhere we go the rest of the year if we could. Hugh Robertson did a fantastic job on a great player in Gibbs, and at the same time, offensively, he stayed in attack mode, very aggressive."
USF (14-10, 7-4 in Big East) continues to build its resume for postseason play, and Robertson was a big part of that Wednesday. He was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field (the best mark by a Bulls player in a Big East game), hit all four of his free throws and held Gibbs -- voted by league coaches as Big East preseason player of the year -- to 4 points, his lowest total in nearly two years. ... Read more
Robertson leads USF past Pittsburgh, 63-51
TAMPA -- Senior guard Hugh Robertson had a season-high 18 points and led a strong defensive effort as USF bounced back nicely with a 63-51 win against Pittsburgh on Wednesday night at Tampa Bay Times Forum.
Robertson held Pitt guard Ashton Gibbs in check -- and scoreless until midway through the second half -- and the Bulls improved to 14-10 and 7-4 in Big East play, ending Pittsburgh's four-game winning streak. Robertson didn't miss a shot all night, going 7-for-7 from the field and 4-for-4 on free-throw attempts.
Freshman point guard Anthony Collins had four straight points for the Bulls after Pitt had cut a 14-point lead to eight points with less than three minutes left. Collins finished with 11 points and six assists, holding his own against Pitt's Tray Woodall, who had 11 points and two assists.
No. 14 Hoyas hand Bulls ugly 75-45 loss
So much for starting the back nine of the Big East men's basketball schedule on a strong note.
USF struggled to score early, going nearly 11 minutes without a point in the first half, and No. 14 Georgetown scored 52 second-half points in a 75-45 rout that marks the Bulls' most lopsided conference loss in seven seasons in the Big East.
USF (13-10, 6-4 in Big East) got 15 points from Augustus Gilchrist, but had little else working in a rare 11 a.m. tipoff. After committing only five turnovers in Sunday's win against Providence, the Bulls committed 17. The Bulls will try to bounce back Wednesday at home against a Pittsburgh team that has bounced back itself, winning three straight after an 0-7 start in Big East play.
Bulls out to show 6-3 Big East record no 'fluke'
TAMPA -- One of the perks of the Big East's 18-game conference schedule is that as USF finds itself a surprising 6-3 at the halfway point, coach Stan Heath has ample golf metaphors at his disposal.
"We've got the back nine of this league, and it is a little bit harder than the front nine we've had," Heath said Thursday as his team prepares for what would have to be considered a par-5, facing No. 14 Georgetown on the road at 11 on Saturday morning. "We've done more than everyone expected us to do, but there's still a lot more that we need to do."
USF (13-9) will be challenged to match the 6-3 record in the second half of the season, if only because the competition will be tougher. USF's first nine opponents are a combined 37-50 in conference play; the next nine are 42-46, including a difficult four-game final stretch: Syracuse, Cincinnati, Louisville and West Virginia. The Bulls know many fans and pundits are skeptical when they see their record. ... Read more
USF: Most improved league record in Power 6
We did this same research two years ago when USF went from 4-14 in the Big East to 9-9, and the Bulls are taking a huge stride forward in conference play again this season, going from a 3-15 Big East mark to their current 6-3 record.
Checking the standings from last year and this, USF has the biggest improvement in confererence record of any team in the "Power 6" conferences -- ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac 12 and SEC -- with already three more league wins than they finished with in 2010-11. The only other teams in those conferences to already improve by more than one win are Iowa State and Indiana, which now have five wins after just three last season.
The only other Big East team with more conference wins now than they finished with last season is DePaul, which had one last season and now has two. ... Read more
Bulls hold off Friars, improve to 6-3 in Big East
TAMPA -- Halfway through the Big East season, USF is still getting used to the idea of having conference games it is supposed to win, but the Bulls continue to consistently come through in such games, like Sunday's 81-78 victory against Providence at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
The Bulls (13-9, 6-3 in Big East) used a 16-1 run in the second half -- including eight points by freshman point guard Anthony Collins -- to take control of the game and then went 7-for-10 at the line in the final minute to pull out a key home win before an announced crowd of 4,333.
"It's motivation to keep working hard," said forward Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, who went 3-for-4 on 3-pointers off the bench in the final nine minutes. "For a school like us that's never been at the top of the Big East at this time of year, we can really use that as a motivation." ... Read more
Live blog: USF holds on, beats Providence 81-78
Greetings from Tampa Bay Times Forum, where USF and Providence are usually good for a high-scoring game. That's true early, as USF has a 26-22 lead 10 minutes in, with good starts from Augustus Gilchrist and Ron Anderson. Here's our live blog for updates throughout the rest of the game ...
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