TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 14, 2007) ? Junior Kentrell Gransberry notched 17 points and 12 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season in the University of South Florida's 70-53 BIG EAST loss to Syracuse Wednesday night at the Sun Dome.

USF is now 12-14 overall and 3-9 in the BIG EAST, while Syracuse improves to 18-8 overall and 7-5 in the conference.

The Bulls took an early five-point lead, 10-5, in the first period thanks to a trey from freshman Solomon Bozeman and a pair of layups from junior Kentrell Gransberry.

Syracuse overtook the lead, 14-13, with 9:33 remaining in the half, and would never trail again in the half.

Despite shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 60 percent from three-point range, the Bulls found themselves down 32-31 at the intermission.

Three minutes into the second half, USF took back the lead, 35-34, but a trey and a layup by the Orange pushed Syracuse ahead by five.

With 12 minutes remaining, the Bulls brought the score within two, 44-42, but a 20-6 Syracuse run extended the Orange lead 64-48 and put the game away.

A trey by senior Melvin Buckley with four minutes left in the conference matchup ended the three-minute scoring drought, but did not provide enough momentum for USF to post a scoring drive of its own.

Buckley ended the game with 17 points, hitting 4-9 from the arc, while senior McHugh Mattis tallied 10 rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

Redshirt freshman Zaronn Cann made his season debut against Syracuse, scoring six points, including 2-2 from the line, and had one steal. Cann played four games in 2005-06, but suffered a knee injury, forcing him to sit the past 46 games.

USF hit 18-47 (38.8 percent) from the field and 46.2 percent (6-13) from long range for the game.

The Bulls next host DePaul on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. in the Sun Dome before hitting the road to Seton Hall on Feb. 24.