TAMPA - The University of South Florida men's basketball team wraps up a two-game road trip against in-state foe UCF on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. ET.
Saturday's game is televised on Comcast/Charter Sports and can also be seen on Bright House Sports Network in Tampa and Orlando.
Due to a previous conflict, the game will be heard on 1010 AM, instead of 1250 AM, and also on GoUSFBulls.com with Jim Lighthall and Todd Kalas brining you the action. A live blog will also be ongoing during the game on GoUSFBulls.com.
The Bulls are 3-2 on the year after a tough 78-77 overtime loss at UAB on Wednesday, Dec. 3. UCF is 3-3 on the year.
Jesus Verdejo paced USF against the Blazers with a game and career-high 26 points, going 10 of 20 from the field and hitting 6 of 12 3-point baskets. Dominique Jones added 15 points and Chris Howard 11 points and seven assists.
SETTING THE SCENE
Date: Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008
Tip-off: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Orlando, Fla. - UCF Arena (10,000)
Television: Comcast/Charter Sports & Bright House Sports Network
Webcast: GoUSFBulls.com (audio)
Radio: 1010 AM will carry the game with Jim Lighthall handling play-by-play and Todd Kalas as color analyst.
USF's Last Time Out: Lost, 78-77 in overtime, at UAB on Dec. 3.
UCF's Last Time Out: Lost, 71-65, to Morehead State on Nov. 30 in the Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico.
Series History: USF leads 18-4
Last Meeting: USF won, 75-67, at home on Dec. 1, 2007.
Website: UCFAthletics.com
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
Jesus Verdejo leads USF at 17.6 points per game with Dominique Jones right behind him at 16.0 an outing. Senior forward Aris Williams leads the team at 5.6 rebounds per games and Jones leads in assists at 4.8 a game with Chris Howard one assist behind at 4.6 per game. Williams leads the way with six blocks a game and Jones with eight steals.
ABOUT UCF
The Bulls wrap up a two-game road trip at UCF on Saturday night, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. UCF is 3-3 on the year after splitting a pair of games in Cancun, Mexico. The Knights are coached by Kirk Speraw who is in his 16th season at UCF. They return two starters from last year's team, including senior standout Jermaine Taylor who is averaging 18.2 points per game and 6.7 rebounds. The Bulls defeated the Knights, 75-67, last season on Dec. 1, 2007 in Tampa.
THE UCF SERIES
USF and UCF have met 22 times all-time, with the Bulls leading the series 18-4, including nine straight wins in the series. The Bulls defeated the Knights, 75-67, last season in Tampa.
UP NEXT: VS. NIAGARA
The Bulls return home for one game to face Niagara on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 1 p.m. at the Sun Dome. Niagara is 5-2 on the year and faces Loyola (Md.) on Sunday, Dec. 7, before heading to Tampa. The Purple Eagles are coached by Joe Mihalich who is in his 11th season at Niagara. They return three starters from last year's team, including junior All-MAAC guard Tyrone Lewis. Lewis leads Niagara at 17.6 points per game. USF and Niagara have met one time previously, an 81-71 USF win on Dec. 21, 1983 in Tampa.
THE COUNTDOWN FOR MERCER AND GILCHRIST - ONE GAME
USF will add two key members to its roster after the UCF game is played for the Bulls. Junior guard Mike Mercer and forward/center Augustus Gilchrist will add some much needed experience, talent and depth to the team when they become eligible for the Dec. 14 Niagara game. 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 for the 2007 class.
AND DON'T FORGET B.J. DANIELS
In addition to Gilchrist and Mercer joining the team for the Dec. 14 Niagara game, USF also added scholarship quarterback and guard B.J. Daniels to its roster beginning 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 and will not re-join the football team for its bowl game.
GILCHRIST GRANTED WAIVER
The NCAA has granted a waiver request for USF basketball player Augustus Gilchrist that will allow him to be eligible for competition after the fall semester of the 2008-09 academic year. Gilchrist will be eligible to begin competition as a freshman on Dec. 14 when USF hosts Niagara at home. The 6-10 forward/center transferred to USF from Maryland during the Summer of 2008. USF will have played six non-conference games when Giilchrist becomes eligible.
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.
UAB ESCAPES WITH 78-77 OVERTIME WIN
Senior guard Jesus Verdejo's game-high 26 points were not enough as UAB's Paul Delaney hit two free throws with 14.5 seconds left in overtime to give the University of Alabama-Birmingham a 78-77 win over the University of South Florida on Wednesday night at Bartow Arena.
USF (3-2) took a 77-75 lead with 3:03 to play in overtime after Jesus Verdejo scored five-straight points. But the Blazers (5-2) would score the final three points of the game, all on free throws.
For the game, Verdejo hit 6 of 12 3-point attempts, to lead the Bulls. Dominique Jones added 15 for USF while Aris Williams grabbed six boards. Chris Howard chipped in 11 points and had a game-high seven assists.
The Blazers sank 20 of 31 free throws, while the Bulls hit 12 of 20. Lawrence Kinnard scored 20 to lead the Blazers, and Delaney added 16.
The Bulls, who led by eight points at halftime, were up 67-54 with 5:59 to play in the second after Verdejo hit a 3-pointer. The Blazers outscored South Florida 18-5 the rest of the way to tie it at 72 at the end of regulation.
TWO NARROW ROAD LOSSES FOR USF
The Bulls fell to 3-2 on the year with the narrow overtime loss at UAB. USF's two losses have come on the road and by a combined three points.
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.
Verdejo also sits at 563 career points, which ranks 55th on the USF all-time scoring list. He is also moving up the all-time 3-point made list. He has 76 career 3-pointers, good for 14th on the all-time list.
JONES HITS FOR 15, GOES OVER 600 FOR HIS CAREER
Sophomore guard Dominique Jones added 15 points at UAB and has eclipsed the 600 career point mark. He now sits at 611 points, which is 51st on the all-time USF scoring list.
HOWARD HAS SOLID OUTING AT UAB
Chris Howard had a solid all-around game against UAB, scoring 11 points, dishing out a game-high seven assists and pulling down five rebounds. He now has 255 career assists, good for 13th on the all-time USF assist list, just eight out of 12th place.
WILLIAMS SOLID AGAIN VS. UAB
Senior forward Aris Williams continued his solid play with seven points and a team-high six rebounds.
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.
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 in 35 career outings.
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.
HOWARD LEADS BULLS AGAINST HIGH POINT
Junior guard Chris Howard led USF with season high 14 points vs. High Point. He added four assists, three rebounds, a steal and a block.
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.
KARDOK AND EMORY MAKE USF DEBUTS
Junior transfer walk-on Ryan Kardok made his regular season debut in the first half vs. High Point playing six minutes. Freshman walk-on Mitch Emory also made his USF debut.
VERDEJO HITS FOR 22 VS. VIRGINIA, POSTS BEST BACK-TO-BACK PERFORMANCES OF HIS CAREER
Senior guard Jesus Verdejo poured in a 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).
Verdejo totaled 40 points the first two games of the year, the best back-to-back scoring performances of his career. His previous high was 36, done twice over a three-game stretch last season when he scored 19 points, 17 and 19 in three consecutive games.
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 PUT FORTH TOP DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE IN HEATH ERA VS. SMU
The defensive effort against SMU was the best of the Stan Heath era. The Bulls held the Mustangs to 27.7 percent shooting from the field which was the lowest in the 32 games since Heath has been head coach. And only one opponent last season, Rutgers in the BIG EAST opener, scored fewer than SMU's 46 points scored.
MAKING THEIR USF DEBUTS VS. SMU
Freshman Eladio Espinosa made his first career start vs. SMU, while freshman Justin Leemow, Gaby Belardo and junior transfer Alex Rivas Sanchez made their first appearances in a Bull uniform against the Mustangs.
FOUR USF STARTERS RETURN
The Bulls return four starters from last year's squad including All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention selection and All-Rookie team pick sophomore guard Dominique Jones. Other starters returning include senior guard Jesus Verdejo, senior forward Mobolaji Ajayi and junior guard Chris Howard. Also joining the Bulls at the conclusion of the first semester are Georgia transfer, junior guard Mike Mercer, and Maryland transfer, freshman forward/center Augustus Gilchrist. Both players will miss the first six regular season games of the season, becoming eligible for the Dec. 14 game vs. Niagara.
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.
