TAMPA - The USF men's basketball team will begin a four-game in seven-day road trip starting Tuesday vs. Vanderbilt in Nashville as part of the SEC/BIG EAST Invitational before heading to Puerto Rico for three games.
The Bulls take on the Commodores at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at the Sommet Center in a nationally televised game on ESPN2. It is part of an SEC/BIG EAST double header with Marquette-Tennessee after the USF game.
The Vanderbilt game can be heard on WNHZ 1250 AM and GoUSFBulls.com. A live blog will also be ongoing during the game on GoUSFBulls.com.
The Bulls are 3-4 on the year after dropping a 70-55 decision to Niagara on Sunday, Dec. 14. Senior guard Jesus Verdejo led USF with a team-high 20 points. Junior transfer Mike Mercer and freshman transfer Augustus Gilchrist made their debuts vs. Niagara.
After Vanderbilt, the Bulls depart for San Juan, Puerto Rico on Thursday, Dec. 18, in preparation for a trio of games Dec. 20-22. USF faces Murray State on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 3 p.m. ET, Wright State on Sunday, Dec. 21, at 5:15 p.m. ET and Oral Roberts on Monday, Dec. 22, at 5:15 p.m. ET. The Murray State game can be heard on 620 AM with the other two on WHNZ 1250 AM. All three games can also be heard on GoUSFBulls.com.
SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008
Tip-off: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Nashville, Tenn. - Sommet Center (16,428)
Television: ESPN2 with Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes and Jeannine Edwards calling the game.
Webcast: GoUSFBulls.com (audio)
Radio: 1250 AM with Jim Lighthall handling play-by-play and Todd Kalas as color analyst.
USF's Last Time Out: Lost, 70-55, vs. Niagara on Dec. 14.
Vanderbilt's Last Time Out: Beat Alabama A&M, 78-55, at home on Dec. 10.
Series History: Tied 1-1
Last Meeting: USF won, 66-65, at Clemson on Nov. 29, 1985.
USF Tickets: 1-800-GoBulls
YEAR TWO OF THE HEATH ERA IS UNDERWAY
This season marks head coach Stan Heath's second season at the helm. He is the eighth head coach in the 38-year history of the program.
LEADING THE BULLS
Senior guard Jesus Verdejo leads USF at 17.6 points per game with sophomore guard Dominique Jones right behind him at 17.0 an outing. Senior forward Aris Williams leads the team at 5.6 rebounds per games and Jones leads in assists at 4.6 a game.
ABOUT VANDERBILT
The Bulls head to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt in the SEC/BIG EAST Invitational on Dec. 16, at 7 p.m. at the Sommet Center. The Commodores are coached by Kevin Stallings who is in his 10th season at Vanderbilt. They return two starters from last year's team, including 6-11 sophomore center A.J. Ogilvy. Ogilvy leads Vandy in scoring and rebounding at 15.3 points and 6.6 boards per game.
THE VANDY SERIES
USF and Vanderbilt have met twice previously, splitting the two meetings. USF won the last meeting between the teams, 66-65, in a game played at Clemson on Nov. 29, 1985.
BULLS FALL TO NIAGARA, 70-55
Tyrone Lewis scored 23 points to lead Niagara to a 70-55 win against the University of South Florida on Dec. 14 at the Sun Dome.
Benson Egemonye scored 17 for the Purple Eagles (7-2) and Bilal Benn contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds for Niagara.
Jesus Verdejo scored 20 points to pace USF (3-4). Transfers Mike Mercer and Augustus Gilchrist finished with 12 and eight, respectively, in their USF debuts.
Lewis had four long-range baskets midway through the first to put the Purple Eagles ahead by eight midway through the half, and Niagara led 32-29 at the break. Verdejo hit a 3-pointer midway through the second to pull the Bulls within 57-49, but Niagara scored 10 straight to put the game away.
Gilchrist and Chris Howard led USF with six rebounds each, while Dominique Jones finished with eight points, four rebounds and four assists.
Niagara came in ranked 10th in the NCAA averaging 10.6 steals per game, and had 11 on Sunday.
UP NEXT: MURRAY STATE, WRIGHT STATE AND ORAL ROBERTS IN PUERTO RICO
After Vanderbilt, the Bulls depart for San Juan, Puerto Rico on Thursday, Dec. 18, in preparation for a trio of games Dec. 20-22. USF faces Murray State on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 3 p.m. ET, Wright State on Sunday, Dec. 21, at 5:15 p.m. ET and Oral Roberts on Monday, Dec. 22, at 5:15 p.m. ET. The Murray State game can be heard on 620 AM with the other two on WHNZ 1250 AM. All three games can also be heard on GoUSFBulls.com.
Murray State is coached by Billy Kennedy who is in his third season at the school. They return four starters from last year's team. Sophomore transfer Isacc Miles leads the Racers in scoring at 11.0. It will be the first all-time meeting between the schools.
Wright State is coached by Brad Brownell who is in his third season at WSU. They return three starters from last year's team, including junior all-conference guard Vaughn Duggins. Duggins leads the Raiders in scoring 11.8 per game. USF and WSU have met twice previously, splitting two meetings during the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons.
Oral Roberts is coached by Scott Sutton who is in his 11th season at ORU. They return one starter from last year's NCAA Tournament team in forward Marcus Lewis. Senior guard Robert Jarvis leads ORU in scoring at 19.2 per game. USF and the Golden Eagles have met once previously, with ORU winning 99-92 in a game played in Huntington, W. Va.
VERDJEO PACES BULLS VS. NIAGARA, GOES FOR 20 OR MORE FOR THIRD TIME
Senior guard Jesus Verdejo led USF in scoring with 20 points vs. Niagara, going 7-12 from the field and 2-5 from 3-point range. It is his third game this season scoring 20 or more points, and surpassed the two games he had with 20 or more points the two previous seasons. He has scored in double figures all seven games this season, the only Bull to do so.
VERDEJO RAINING FROM THREE, ABOUT TO GO OVER 600 CAREER POINTS
Jesus Verdejo has started out the season strong shooting the 3-pointer. He has connected on at least two in every game this season and is averaging 3.4 per game. The senior has 24 in seven games this season after making 42 in 30 games last season. He is shooting 45 percent from 3-point range. Verdejo also sits at 598 career points, which ranks 53rd on the USF all-time scoring list. He is also moving up the all-time 3-point made list. He has 81 career 3-pointers, good for 14th on the all-time list and just 10 from moving into the top 10 all-time.
JONES MOVING UP USF SCORING LADDER
With his eight points vs. Niagara Jones moved past two players into 46th on the all-time USF scoring list with 650 points. He needs to hit 687 points to move into the top 40 all-time. One of the two players Jones passes against Niagara was current Bulls Director of Basketball Operations Tommy Tonelli who now sits at 47th all-time at 647 career points.
MERCER AND GILCHRIST MAKE DEBUTS, AS DOES DANIELS
Sunday, Dec. 14, vs. Niagara marked the debuts of two key transfers in junior guard Mike Mercer and freshman forward/center Augustus Gilchrist. Mercer, 6-4, and Gilchrist, 6-10, will add some much needed experience, talent and depth to the team. Mercer averaged 12.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 51 career games for Georgia, which included 27 starts. Glichrist was one of the top-rated post players in the country coming out of high school in the 2007 class.
Against Niagara, both Mercer and Gilchrist started with Mercer notching 12 points and Gilchrist eight points and six rebounds. Freshman guard and scholarship quarterback B.J Daniels also made his USF basketball debut midway through the first half vs. Niagara.
Daniels joined the roster on Friday, Dec. 5. Daniels was a first-team Class 5A all-state selection last year and averaged 27 points per game. He did not travel to West Virginia with the football team for their last regular season game and will not re-join the football team for its bowl game. He is applying for a redshirt.
RIVALS.COM RANKS MIKE MERCER THE NO. 5 IMPACT TRANSFER
Rivals.com recently announced its top 10 transfers for the upcoming season and USF's Mike Mercer was ranked fifth. Mercer averaged 12.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 51 career games for Georgia. He was averaging 13.6 points per game as a sophomore before being sidelined with a right ACL injury. Mercer will miss both exhibition games and the first six regular season games, becoming eligible for the Dec. 14 Niagara game.
JONES GOES FOR 30 OR MORE FOR SECOND TIME VS. UCF AND FOURTH TIME IN HIS CAEER
Sophomore guard Dominique Jones matched his career high with 31 points at UCF, going 11-17 from the field and 2-5 from 3-point range. His previous 31-point outing was last season vs. Seton Hall (2/26/08).
It is the fourth time in Jones' career with 30 or more points which is tied for second all-time at USF with Altron Jackson and B.B. Waldon. Only Charley Bradley, with 24, has more games with 30 or more points scored at USF. Jones also had 30 points in a USF win over UCF last season.
VERDEJO FIRES AWAY FOR CAREER HIGH 26 AT UAB
Senior guard Jesus Verdejo led USF with a game and career-high 26 points at UAB, besting the 22 he had at Virginia earlier this year (11/19/08). He was 10-20 from the field buried a career high six 3-pointers on 12 attempts. His previous best was four 3-pointers made three times previously.
HOWARD CLOSE TO MOVING INTO 12TH ON ALL-TIME ASSIST LIST
Junior guard Chris Howard has 259 career assists, good for 13th on the all-time USF assist list, just four out of 12th place.
LEEMOW GOES FOR CAREER HIGH NINE, HITS THREE 3-POINTERS
Freshman guard Justin Leemow had a career-high nine points at UAB, going 3-3 from 3-point range, also a career best.
JUST SECOND OT GAME OF THE HEATH TENURE AT USF
The UAB game was just the second overtime game played for Stan Heath while at USF. The other OT game was last season vs. UConn.
37 POINTS ALLOWED SECOND LOWEST IN USF HISTORY
The 37 points that USF held Northeastern to is the second lowest defensive performance in the 38-year Bulls history and only the fifth time in history holding an opponent to less than 40 points. The record is 34 in a 45-34 win over St. Peters on Dec. 4, 1985.
Only one opponent last season, Rutgers 45 in the BIG EAST opener, scored fewer than 46 points scored in a game. This season has seen three teams score 46 or less against the Bulls.
USF HOLDS NORTHEASTERN TO 11 HALFTIME POINTS
The 11 points that Northeastern scored in the first half is the lowest defensive half under Stan Heath. The previous low half was the last half USF played, the second against High Point where they gave up 18.
JONES HITS 20 AGAIN
Dominique Jones tallied a game-high 20 points vs. Northeastern. It was his 12th career game with 20 or more points.
BULLS GO TO WORK ON JANNING
The Bulls defense also held Northeastern's leading scorer, Matt Janning, scoreless in the first half. It was the first half this season (5 previous games) that he has been held scoreless after coming into the game averaging 20 points per game. It took Janning 26:48 before finally scoring with 13:12 left in the game and he ended with three points, finally hitting his lone field goal with 4:15 left to play.
WILLIAMS MATCHES CAREER HIGH IN TWO STRAIGHT GAMES
Aris Williams matched his career high with 11 points vs. Northeastern, which he set Nov. 25 vs. High Point. He also pulled down a game-high seven rebounds.
HOWARD GIVETH AND TAKETH AWAY
Chris Howard, the player mostly responsible for harassing Matt Janning into a 1-11 shooting night, led the way with seven assists vs. the Huskies.
ANOTHER LOW IN HEATH ERA
USF's 24.1 percent field goal percentage defense vs. NU was the lowest in the Stan Heath era, besting the 27.7 against SMU in the season opener.
WILLIAMS NOTCHES CAREER HIGH
Senior forward Aris Williams posted a career high 11 points vs. High Point, including eight in a 10-2 USF run that gave the Bulls their first lead of the game, 34-32, at the 14:14 mark of the second half. Williams also finished with six rebounds, three blocked shots, an assist and a steal.
ESPINOSA PULLS DOWNS 10 BOARDS
Freshman Eladio Espinosa grabbed a game and career high 10 rebounds vs. High Point and added nine points, just missing his first career double double.
VERDEJO HITS FOR THEN CAREER-HIGH 22 VS. VIRGINIA
Senior guard Jesus Verdejo poured in a then career-high 22 points at Virginia, going 9-15 from the field and 4-7 from 3-point range. His previous career high was 20, done twice before (11/24/07 vs. East Carolina and 12/17/06 vs. Norfolk State).
JONES TOP SCORER AT VIRGINIA
Dominique Jones tallied a game-high 23 points vs. Virginia.
TWO GO FOR OVER 20 AT UVA
USF had two 20-point scorers against Virginia, Jones with 23 and Verdejo with 22. The Bulls had three games last year with two players scoring 20 or more points in the same game (Kentrell Gransberry 21 and Aaron Holmes 20 vs. Winston-Salem State; Gransberry 20 and Jones 24 vs. Rutgers at home; and Gransberry 23 and Jones 29 vs. Syracuse at home).
AJAYI MATCHES CAREER HIGH FOR REBOUNDS AT UVA
Senior forward Mobolaji Ajayi led USF with 11 rebounds vs. SMU, matching his career high set last year vs. Seton Hall (2/26/08).
BULLS SIGN DUMARS AND NORIEGA
USF men's basketball coach Stan Heath announced on Nov. 12 the signing of guards Jordan Dumars and Shaun Noriega to NCAA Letters of Intent during the November signing period. The signing period runs through Nov. 19.
Dumars (6-5, 225) and Noriega (6-4, 195) will join USF as freshmen for the 2009-10 season and bring with them sharp-shooting skills and perimeter size. Noriega is already North Port High School's all-time leading scorer in just three seasons with 1,282 points, while Dumars holds perennial high school power Detroit Country Day's single-game record for 3-point field goals made with nine.
“We felt we needed to address our perimeter shooting and both Shaun and Jordan are very skilled players that can stretch the defense and consistently knock down 3-point shots,” said USF Head Coach Stan Heath. “We also felt both players had very high basketball IQ's and will be players that will make good decisions and be good teammates. Both players come from winning programs and have very strong academic backgrounds.”
TV ALL THE TIME
In 2007-08, the BIG EAST began a new multiyear agreement with ESPN that brought the national television exposure for the league to unprecedented levels. That coverage continues this season. For the second straight year, every conference regular-season game will be televised.
The BIG EAST has always been considered a leader in TV. Twelve of the 16 BIG EAST institutions are located in the top 34 media markets in the country. Some of the highlights of the current agreement:
ESPN, Inc. will produce 140 of the 144 regular-season conference games this season. The four remaining games will be carried by CBS Sports.
ESPN and ESPN2 will telecast a minimum of 60 games each year. In 2008-09, ESPN or ESPN2 will televise 45 regular-season league games, 11 games of The BIG EAST Championship and eight nonconference home contests.
ESPN Regional will carry a minimum of 67 games under the banner of The BIG EAST Network and continue to produce its weekend Game of the Week package, which reaches over a third of the nation's homes and has a household reach of more than 38 million. Most games offered by ESPN Regional are also available nationally as part of ESPN Full Court, the pay subscription college basketball outer-market service.
A record 45 conference contests will be carried on ESPN or ESPN2. CBS Sports will televise 10 more games involving BIG EAST teams. ESPN will continue to televise The BIG EAST Championship from Madison Square Garden in New York. The dates are March 10-14.
In total, 70 of the 144 regular-season BIG EAST games will be on national television, which includes 21 that will be carried on ESPNU. The remaining games will be carried on ESPN360 or the BIG EAST Network, which is produced by ESPN Regional Television.
BULLS PICKED TO FINISH 16TH IN BIG EAST PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
The Bulls were picked to finish 16th in the BIG EAST Preseason poll.
BIG EAST FIELD TO INCREASE TO 16 FOR 2009
The Presidents of the BIG EAST Conference voted to include all 16 member institutions in the men's and women's basketball championship tournaments beginning in 2009. The Presidents took this action at their annual meeting, which was held Nov. 6 in Philadelphia.
Previously, on the top 12 teams in the final regular-season standings advanced to participate in the men's and women's championships. The men's championship is held in New York City at Madison Square Garden. The women's championship is held in Hartford, Conn., at the Hartford Civic Center.
WALK-ON ADDED TO ROSTER
Junior college transfer Ryan Kardok has been added to the 2008-09 roster as a walk-on. Kardok spent two years playing at Broward Community College. He attended Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where he averaged 17 points and six assists per game as a senior.
