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TAMPA - The University of South Florida men's basketball team picked up its first conference victory of the season by beating Rutgers at the USF Sun Dome, 73-64, Saturday night.

In front of a crowd of 4,764 and on a night in which new USF football coach Skip Holtz addressed the crowd, the basketball team was able to beat their BIG EAST foe by nine points thanks to balanced scoring.

The Bulls had five Bulls in double-figures scoring for the first time this season.

Junior Dominique Jones finished with 20 points in the victory over Rutgers. The 20-point effort was the 31st time during his career that he has scored at least 20 points in a game and the ninth time this season. Jones also has posted four-straight 20 point games.

Jarrid Famous put up 13 points on the night, and also added 12 rebounds to earn his fifth double-double of the season.

Sophomore Anthony Crater scored the first points of his career in the win over Rutgers on a three from the wing during the second half. Crater finished with 10 points, a season high.

"I was really happy for Anthony Crater to knock something down and get the monkey off of his back," Head Coach Stan Heath said.

The Bulls got off to a quick start, immediately off of the tip, as Jones took the ball through the lane and put the Bulls up 2-0, five seconds into the game.

After a post-up bucket by Jones, a free throw by Mercer, and a hook shot bucket by Fitzpatrick, the Bulls extended their lead to 10-5 14 minutes into the game.

With just under 12 minutes to play in the first half, Fitzpatrick spotted up for three on the wing and knocked down the first three of his career to put USF up, 15-9.

After a turnover by Rutgers, Famous took a pass and slammed down a huge one-handed dunk to put USF up, 17-12.

Rutgers responded with a 4-0 run until Fitzpatrick hit a baseline jumper to ignite a 4-0 run for the Bulls and put them up, 21-16.

The Bulls scored on three straight possessions during a 6-0 run to take a 29-21 advantage with just under four minutes remaining in the second half.

USF took a 33-25 lead into the locker room at halftime after a teardrop shot from Mercer in the lane after three consecutive offensive boards by the Bulls.

After an exciting halftime, in which newly appointed football coach Skip Holtz addressed the crowd and joined the student section, the Bulls came out firing, as Jones hit for a layup and extended the lead to 10, 35-25.

Rutgers cut the lead to six, 40-34, with under 15 minutes remaining after a nice drive and layup by former high school All-American Mike Rosario.

After a streak of five minutes in which USF scored just one point, Famous threw down a huge dunk in the post to put the Bulls back up by nine, 43-34, with 12:30 remaining.

Both teams exchanged buckets including a three and a nice reverse layup by Anthony Crater, the first points of his USF career, to put the Bulls up 53-42 with eight minutes remaining.

With under six minutes remaining, Crater hit his second three of the game to extend the USF lead to 14, the largest of the game at that point.

The Bulls continued to extend their lead to as many as 17, and would go on to win, 73-64.


INDIVIDUAL:

- With just under 12 minutes to play in the first half, Fitzpatrick spotted up for three on the wing and knocked down the first three of his career to put USF up, 15-9.

- Junior Dominique Jone finished with 20 points in the victory over Rutgers. The 20-point effort was the 31st time during his career that he has scored at least 20 points in a game and the ninth time this season. Jones also has had four-straight 20 point games.

- Jarrid Famous put up 11 points on the night, and also added 12 rebounds to earn his fifth double-double of the season.

- Sophomore Anthony Crater scored the first points of his career in the win over Rutgers on a three from the wing during the second half. Crater finished with 10 points, two rebounds and a steal.


TEAM:

- USF earned its first BIG EAST victory of the season by beating Rutgers, 73-64. The conference victory is the first since the Bulls defeated Cincinnati, 70-59, at the Sun Dome on March 3, 2009.

- The 73-64 victory over Rutgers is the fourth win in the last five attempts for the Bulls against the Scarlet Knights dating back to 2007.

-The Bulls dominated Rutgers in the paint, outscoring the Scarlet Knights 42-28 in the paint.
 
- The Bulls had five Bulls in double-figure scoring for the first time this season. The last time USF had five players score 10 or more points was Nov. 24, 2007, when five players accomplished the feat against East Carolina.