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Postgame Notes
MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Looking to solidify its at-large berth in the NCAA tournament, the University of South Florida men's basketball team instead dropped its second straight game with a 63-52 loss to Marquette Saturday night.
Despite being down by just four at the half, 31-27, the Bulls went cold in the second half, shooting just under 30 percent as Marquette built its lead up by as much as 14 and led the rest of the way.
USF fell to 15-9 overall and 5-7 in the BIG EAST, while Marquette improved its record to 16-8 overall, 7-5 in conference play.
Junior Dominique Jones again led the way for the Bulls, scoring 16 on the night while grabbing nine rebounds. Junior Jarrid Famous posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.
Senior Chris Howard knocked down 11 points with five boards and five assists, while sophomore Augustus Gilchrist, out for two months with an ankle sprain, had seven points and four boards in 23 minutes off the bench.
USF held a sizeable advantage in rebounds, 42-30, including 14-4 on the offensive glass.
Lazar Hayward led the Golden Eagles with 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Jimmy Butler and Maurice Acker added 15 and 14, respectively.
USF shot 35.5 percent overall in the game after hitting at a 44 percent clip in the first stanza. Marquette made 43.1 percent of its floor shots, while the Bulls were 4-of-20 at the 3-point line and just 4-of-6 from the free throw line.
Marquette, on the other hand, went 13-of-20 from the charity stripe and held an 18-6 advantage in fastbreak points.
Senior Mike Mercer hit a 3-pointer in the game's opening possession to get USF out on top early, and Jones later gave USF a seven-point lead with a three of his own at the 15:00 mark of the first stanza, 13-6.
A 12-3 run by the Eagles took more than five minutes off the clock and put Marquette ahead in the game, 18-6, after Butler hit a pair of free throws.
USF battled back and took the lead back at one point when Jones hit a layup, putting the Bulls up, 25-23, with 4:22 showing on the scoreboard.
An 8-0 run by Marquette over the last part of the first half gave the Eagles their largest lead of the game so far at six points, but Mercer would hit put down a dunk with under a minute to play as the half drew to a close with the Eagles up, 31-27.
Marquette earned all the momentum as the second half got underway, quickly getting the lead into double-digits when Acker hit a layup to get Marquette up by 11, 42-31, a little more than four minutes into the half.
David Cubillan knocked down a trey to give Marquette its biggest lead of the game at 49-35 as the Eagles outscored the Bulls, 18-8, in the first nine minutes of the second period.
The teams would trade baskets as the half wore on, with USF shrinking the deficit down to six at 53-47 when Famous hit a layup with 6:27 left on the clock. Butler, though, got Marquette back up to 12 just a short time later with 4:10 left on the clicker.
USF held Marquette to without a point for the next three and a half minutes, but the Bulls could not capitalize, getting the deficit only down to seven when Mercer hit a free throw with 40 seconds left.
Hayward hit four free throws down the stretch as USF was unable to convert on the offensive end. Hayward would add 14 points and 10 rebounds in the second half alone.
USF will attempt to get back into the win column Tuesday night at the Sun Dome for a 7 p.m. contest with Cincinnati.
USF at Marquette
Postgame Notes
Feb. 13, 2010
The Bradley Center
Team
- Both teams started the game with a long ball. Senior Mike Mercer started the scoring with a try from the corner at 19:24, while Marquette's first points came off a trey from Darius Johnson-Odom at 17:52.
- USF held a sizeable advantage in rebounds, 42-30, including a 14-4 advantage in offensive rebounds. The 12-rebound differential was the largest of the season for the Bulls. USF has now outrebounded its opponents in six of the last eight games.
- USF attempted 20 3-pointers on the night, the most 3's attempted in the last 13 games since shooting 31 against the University of San Francisco at the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.
- USF held a slight 7-2 advantage in bench points, outscoring the opponent's bench for the third straight game after having not accomplished the feat since Nov. 27, a stretch of 15 games.
- USF's 52 points tied for the second lowest this season. USF's low was 50 against West Virginia, while the Bulls hit for 52 against Louisville in the BIG EAST opener.
- After going 4-for-9 in the first half from 3-point range, USF failed to hit a trey in the second half, going 0-for-11 in the second stanza.
- The game also marked just the second time all season USF did not hit double digits in free throws made. USF was 4-of-6 against Marquette, as the Bulls also had a 5-of-8 performance in a 76-54 win over Kent State earlier in the season.
Individual
- Chris Howard reached a milestone by playing in his 100th career game while also making his 96th career start.
- Augustus Gilchrist hit his first shot - a long ball from the top of the key - with 13:20 left in the first half. He finished the game 3-for-6 for seven points along with four rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
- Jarrid Famous picked up his sixth double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds against the Golden Eagles. Four of his double-doubles have come in BIG EAST play.
- Dominique Jones was one rebound shy of his fifth double-double of the year, as he ended the game with 16 points and nine rebounds. He is averaging 7.4 rebound per game over his last 10 contests.
- Jones has been the team's top scorer in 10 of the last 11 games for the Bulls, with the only exception being last Sunday when Howard led the way with 23 points against Notre Dame.
