TAMPA - The Bulls return home from Puerto Rico and a four-game road trip to face the Iona College Gaels on Saturday, Dec. 27, at 7 p.m. at the Sun Dome.
The game is televised locally on Bright House Sports Network and can be heard on WHNZ 1250 AM and on GoUSFBulls.com. A live blog will also be ongoing during the game on GoUSFBulls.com.
The Bulls are 4-7 on the year after losing two of three in Puerto Rico. Iona is 5-7 after a 67-64 win at Hofstra on Dec. 23.
SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008
Tip-off: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Tampa, Fla. - The Sun Dome (10,411)
Television: Bright House Sports Network with Drew Fellios and Anddrikk Frazier brining you the action.
Webcast: GoUSFBulls.com (audio)
Radio: 1250 AM with Jim Lighthall handling play-by-play and
Jim Louk as color analyst.
USF's Last Time Out: Lost, 86-63, vs. Oral Roberts on Dec. 22.
Iona's Last Time Out: Beat Hofstra, 67-64, on the road on Dec. 23.
Series History: Iona leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Iona won, 107-100, at Iona on Feb. 19, 1977.
website: ICGaels.com
USF tickets: 1-800-GoBulls
LEADING THE BULLS
Senior guard Jesus Verdejo leads USF at 16.5 points per game with sophomore guard Dominique Jones right behind him at 15.4 an outing. Freshman forward Augustus Gilchrist leads the team at 5.4 rebounds per game and Jones leads in assists at 4.2 a game. Jones leads the way with 18 steals and senior forward Aris Williams with nine blocks.
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.
ABOUT IONA
The Bulls return home from Puerto Rico and a four-game road trip to face Iona at home on Saturday, Dec. 27, at 7 p.m. at the Sun Dome. It is the final non-conference game before USF opens BIG EAST Conference play on Friday, Jan. 2, vs. Syracuse. The Gaels are coached by Kevin Willard who is in his 2nd season at Iona. They return three starters from last year's team, including forward Gary Springer. Springer leads Iona in scoring at 12.7 points per game and 6.0 rebounds but has only played six games on the season due to an injury.
THE IONA SERIES
USF and the Gaels have met once previously, with Iona winning 107-100 at Iona on Feb. 19, 1977. It is one of four games in USF history where both teams scored 100 or more points in the contest.
UP NEXT: SYRACUSE
The Bulls remain at home to open BIG EAST play vs. Syracuse on Friday, Jan. 2, at 8:30 p.m. in the Sun Dome in a nationally televised game on ESPN. The Orange are coached by Jim Boeheim who is in his 33rd season at Syracuse. They return 10 letterwinners and four starters from last year's team. The Orange take on Seton Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 30, before heading to Tampa. Sophomore guard Jonny Flynn leads Syracuse in scoring at 17.5 points per game.
MERCER SPRAINS RIGHT KNEE VS. WRIGHT STATE
Junior guard Mike Mercer sprained his right knee vs. Wright State on Dec. 21 and did not play in USF's final game in Puerto Rico vs. Oral Roberts on Dec. 22. He is doubtful for the Iona game.
VERDEJO NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM IN PUERTO RICO
Jesus Verdejo was the only Bull named to the All-Tournament team in Puerto Rico after averaging 17.7 points in the three games. He matched his career high with 26 against Wright State, had nine vs. Murray State and 18 vs. Oral Roberts.
JONES CONTINUES TO MOVE UP SCORING LADDER
With his eight points vs. Oral Roberts, Dominique Jones now has 700 career points, becoming just the 39th player to score 700 or more points in USF history. The sophomore sits just seven points behind James Holmes for 38th all-time.
VERDEJO CLIMBING TOO
The 18 points scored by Jesus Verdejo gives him 657 for his career, moving him into 46th on the all-time USF scoring list. With 13 points he can jump into 43rd on the all-time list.
HOWARD MOVES INTO 11TH ALL-TIME ON USF ASSIST LIST
With two assists vs. Oral Roberts, Chris Howard now has 269 career assists and moved into 11th place on the all-time USF assist list. He is 23 assists behind Bobby Russel for 10th all-time.
BELARDO TALLIES HIS FIRST CAREER POINTS
Freshman Gaby Belardo tallied a career-high eight points vs. Oral Roberts in San Juan. The Puerto Rico native was able to do it in front of friends and family.
VERDEJO MATCHES CAREER HIGH VS. WRIGHT STATE
Senior guard Jesus Verdejo tallied 26 points vs. Wright State, matching his career high from earlier this season on Dec. 3 at UAB. It was his fourth game this season scoring 20 or more points, after going for 20 or more just twice the two previous seasons (one each season).
VERDEJO IS SHOOTING WELL FROM DOWNTOWN, ABOUT TO MOVE INTO 10TH ALL-TIME AT USF FOR 3-POINT FIELD GOALS
Jesus Verdejo has started out the season strong shooting the 3-pointer. He has connected on 33 3-pointers and is averaging 3.0 per game. The senior has 33 in 11 games this season after making 42 in 30 games last season. He is shooting 43.4 percent from 3-point range.
He is also moving up the all-time 3-point made list at USF. He has 90 career 3-pointers, good for 12th all-time and just two made from moving into the top 10 and past Brian Lamb and B.B. Waldon who each have 91 made.
JONES GOES OVER 20 AGAIN VS. MURRAY STATE
Dominique Jones scored 23 points vs. Murray State, going 6-10 from the field and 5-7 from 3-point range. It was his fourth time this season scoring 20 or more in a game. His five 3-point fields was a season high.
EMORY DOES NOT RETURN
Freshman walk-on Mitch Emory has decided not to return to the team for the second semester. Emory is focusing on his acedemics at USF.
JONES TOPS BULLS IN SCORING AGAINST VANDY
Sophomore Dominique Jones led USF in scoring against Vanderbilt, scoring 19 points. He tied his season high with seven rebounds.
GILCHRIST JUST TWO SHORT OF DOUBLE DOUBLE IN SECOND GAME
Freshman August Gilchrist notched his first career double digit scoring game with 12 points vs. Vandy. He also added a team-high eight rebounds in his secod collegiate game.
VERDJEO PACES BULLS VS. NIAGARA, GOES FOR 20
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.
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.
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 ran through November 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.
