Game Stats PDF | Season Stats PDF | Postgame Notes

TAMPA - It came down right to the end, but ultimately the University of South Florida men's basketball team fell just short of advancing in the NIT as the Bulls fell to NC State, 58-57, Tuesday evening in the Sun Dome in the first round of the tournament.

As the No. 3 seed, the Bulls nearly took down the No. 6 seed Wolfpack, going up by one with 41 seconds left after junior Dominique Jones drove down the court for a layup, but NC State's Richard Howell was all alone under the bucket to put NC State ahead with eight seconds left for the win.

USF's last ditch attempt on their end of the court ended with Howell blocking a jumper by Augustus Gilchrist two steps outside the left elbow with one second left.

The loss ended USF's season at 20-13, only the third time ever USF reached 20 wins through 39 years of basketball. NC State improved to 20-15 and will move on to play at UAB Saturday in the second round of the NIT.

USF was led by Jones with 24 points, while junior Jarrid Famous was the only other player in double figures with 10 points and seven rebounds. In his last collegiate game, senior Chris Howard posted eight points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Despite entering the game with an illness, senior Mike Mercer posted four points with two steals, while classmate Alex Rivas played three minutes in his last game for USF. Senior walk-on Ryan Kardok also saw his career come to a close but did not see game action.

USF shot well, hitting 42.5 percent for the game, as well as 21-of-31 from the free throw line (67.7 percent). After hitting two of their first three 3-pointers on the night, the Bulls missed their last six to finish 2-of-9.

The Bulls were done in by the Wolfpack's Dennis Horner and Tracy Smith, who led the scoring with 25 and 14 points, respectively. As a team, NC State shot 41.8 percent for the game, including a hot second half when the Wolfpack knocked down 51.9 percent.

NC State, though, attempted just 10 free throws, sinking eight, while hitting 4-of-13 from beyond the arc. The Wolfpack also posted a 30-24 edge in points in the paint and a 14-6 advantage in second chance points after pulling down 10 offensive rebounds.

NC State outrebounded USF, 36-26, for the game, including 10-3 on the offensive glass.

The Bulls took control right off the bat, scoring the game's first four points on a pair of free throws by Howard and Jones, then extending it to 11-4 at the 15:51 mark after Jones drained a 3-pointer, equaling USF's total from the previous two games combined.

It didn't take long for NC State to get back into the game, going on a 10-0 run, capped by a jumper by Johnny Thomas with 11:20 to go that made it 14-11. Mercer and Famous then had back-to-back dunks, the last by Famous after he grabbed an offensive rebound off a Mercer miss and immediately had the putback to put the Bulls back in the lead, 15-14, at the 8:18 mark.

The Bulls maintained the advantage on the scoreboard throughout the rest of the half, getting up by as much as six with 55 seconds to go when Jones hit a free throw following another 3-pointer on the previous possession as USF was up, 26-20. Horner added a layup with 24 ticks on the clock as the Bulls went into the locker room up, 26-22.

After freshman Toarlyn Fitzpatrick opened the second half with a score for a 28-22 lead, NC State went on a 10-2 run to go back into the lead at 32-30 just before the under-16 minute media timeout.

After a pair of free throws by Gilchrist made it 34-32 Bulls, a 9-0 run by NC State gave the Wolfpack a seven-point lead at 41-34 with 12:08 remaining, forcing head coach Stan Heath to call a timeout to stem the tide.

The teams traded baskets and free throws over the next several minutes before USF finally got the lead back when Howard drained a pair of shots from the charity stripe for a 47-45 lead with 7:07 left.

Horner sank an and-one as NC State pushed the lead up to four over the next four minutes, eventually calling a timeout after Smith hit a layup with the ensuing free throw off the foul for a 55-51 advantage with 2:56 to go.

Jones hit a layup, followed by two more free throws by Howard as USF held NC State scoreless for a two-minute stretch.

Howell hit a free throw with 50 seconds left for a 56-55 lead for the Wolfpack, followed by the last two scores of the game by Jones and Howell for the final 58-57 score.

Team Notes
USF hit 21 free throws in the game, the most made by the Bulls in the NIT. The previous high was 17, which happened twice.

USF drops to 4-8 in its eight NIT appearances and 4-3 in the NIT at the Sun Dome.

The 25 points allowed to Dennis Horner is the most since Providence's Jamine Peterson and Sharaud Curry each scored 26 against USF on Feb. 27, 2010.

USF only had three offensive rebounds against NC State, which is four less than the season low of seven, set against San Diego in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic. 

Individual Notes
Junior guard Dominique Jones scored 14 points in the first half and ended the night with 24, the 42nd time he's scored more than 20 in a game.

Jones had three steals, which ties the most in an NIT game by a Bull.

With 15 attempted free throws, Jones ends the season with 615 career attempts and sets the school record in the category. He surpassed Charlie Bradley's 606 to own the record.

Junior forward Jarrid Famous grabbed six rebounds in the first half and ended the night with seven boards. Has grabbed at least six rebounds in the past six games and in nine of the last 10 games.

Famous scored in double digits (10) for the first time since his 12 points at Marquette on Feb. 13.

Senior Chris Howard pulled down seven rebounds, the most since he grabbed 10 at Cincinnati on Jan. 20.