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TAMPA - The University of South Florida men's basketball team fell to the West Virginia Mountaineers on Wednesday night, 69-50, at the USF Sun Dome, after an early lead for the Bulls evaporated by the end of the first half.

USF led by as many as 11 points in the first half, and trailed the Mountaineers by just two at the half, but could not pull out a win.

West Virginia finished the first half on a 20-7 run, and outscored the Bulls 37-20 in the second half despite another solid effort from junior Dominique Jones.

Jones finished the opening half with 19 points which tied for the most in an opening half by any Bull this season. Jones also had 19 against San Francisco on Dec. 19.

Jones finished the game with 28 points against the Mountaineers, which gave him three consecutive games with at least 26 points. Jones scored 26 against Notre Dame and 30 against Syracuse before his outburst against the Mountaineers.

The Bulls got off to a quick start on the first possession of the game, as freshman Toarlyn Fitzpatrick put the Bulls on top 2-0 after laying it in just under one minute into the game.

On the next possession, Jones drove the lane and laid it in for two. Jones went on to score the next nine points for the Bulls and scored 11 of the USF's first 13 points on 5-5 shooting including a three and a pair of coast-to-coast dunks.

Jones helped the Bulls to a 13-6 lead, and USF would not let up. Jones led a fast-break, and dished to teammate Jarrid Famous who ignited the crowd and gave the Bulls the 15-6 advantage.

The Mountaineers responded, and cut the USF lead to 17-12 with under 10 minutes to go in the first half, but Jones put the Bulls on his back again. The Bulls went on a 5-0 run over the next three minutes to give them the 23-12 lead, the biggest of the first half.

West Virginia then went on a 12-0 run to take the lead 24-23 at the four minute mark, its first lead of the game.

Jones scored on back-to-back possessions to put the Bulls back on top 27-24, with three minutes remaining in the opening period.

WVU responded with a 6-0 run of their own to take the 30-27 lead with under a minute to go.

After a pair of free-throws for USF and another bucket by the Mountaineers, West Virginia took a 32-30 lead at the half thanks to a 20-7 run to finish the half.

West Virginia came out of the locker room on fire, and opened the period on an 8-0 run, holding the Bulls scoreless until 16:12 when Famous put in a layup to make the game 40-32.

The Mountaineers continued to impress, going on a 10-2 run to take a 51-34 advantage.

After buckets on three consecutive possessions by Jones, the Bulls closed the WVU lead to 52-37 with 9:55 remaining.

West Virginia was able to stretch its lead to as many as 21, and would hold on for the win, 69-50.


TEAM NOTES:

USF bullied West Virginia in the first half in the paint. The Bulls outscored the Mountaineers 22-14 in points in the paint during the opening half, and ended the contest with 26 points in the paint compared to 34 by WVU.

USF shot a blistering 57.1 percent in the first half, but dipped to 16.1 percent in the second half. Neither take could make the long ball, as USF finished 1-of-17 (5.9 percent) and West Virginia was 3-of-17 (17.6 percent).

West Virginia handed out 15 assists on their 27 made shots, while USF had four assists on 17 baskets.


INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

Jones finished the opening half with 19 points which tied for the most in an opening half by any Bulls this season. Jones also had 19 against San Francisco on Dec. 19.

Jones finished the game with 28 points against the Mountaineers, which gave him three consecutive games with at least 26 points. Jones scored 26 against Notre Dame, 30 against Syracuse and finished with 28 points against West Virginia. Jones also scored 30, 30 and 25 in three straight games his freshman year.

The 28 points by Jones kept him two points shy of 30. Jones previously had a 30-point effort in the last game against Syracuse. Had Jones scored 30, it would have been back-to-back 30-point games for the second time in his career, and the first time in his BIG EAST career. The 28 points is the 30th 20-point game of his career and the seventh on this season.

Dominque Jones took 10 free throw attempts to move him into a tie for fifth place in USF history with 438 for his career. Jones tied Chucky Atkins, who also finished his career with 438 free three throw attempts for his career. Jones now sits 50 behind Terrence Leather who is in fourth place with 488.

Jones finished the night with 28 to give him 1,402 career points, one of only seven players to accomplish the feat. Up next is No. 6 Tony Grier, who had 1,475 during his career.