Game Stats PDF | Season Stats | BIG EAST Stats
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The University of South Florida's men's basketball team dropped a BIG EAST Conference game to the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers on Thursday night, 71-62.
The Bulls fall to 1-6 in BIG EAST Conference play and 7-13 overall.
Hugh Robertson scored 14 points, for USF, added to his four assists and three rebounds, while Augustus Gilchrist scored 14 points and grabbed three rebounds.
James Beatty and Jonathan Mitchell each netted 20 points to lead Rutgers (11-7, 2-4).
USF again shot well from the line, hitting 15-of-17 free throws, an 88.2 percent clip, and won the battle of the boards, 35-27.
The Bulls failed to score during the first six and half minutes of the game, allowing Rutgers to go on a 9-0 run to open the game. The scoring drought ended when Anthony Crater connected on a long three-pointer from the top of the arc at the 13:26 first-half mark.
The Crater trey sparked an 8-2 USF run that included a pair of Augustus Gilchrist free throws and a three-point field goal banked in by Mike Burwell off the bench.
USF saw its first lead of the game with less than eight minutes left in the first half, when Augustus Gilchrist finished a thunderous alley-oop dunk on a pass from Hugh Robertson in transition, to make the score 22-20.
Hugh Robertson answered a Rutgers' three-point field goal with 22 seconds left in the half by draining a long distance trey as the first-half clock expired, bringing the Bulls even with Rutgers 25-25.
The Bulls kept themselves in the first half by winning the rebounding battle 18-13 and going 7-of-8 (87.5 percent) from the free throw line.
Augustus Gilchrist opened the second half with a field goal in the paint. That score was quickly followed by a Sean Noriega three pointer, which prompted a Rutgers timeout.
However, USF fell behind during an 11-0 Rutgers run, which ended with a pair of Hugh Robertson free throws at the 16:44 mark.
Robertson's free throws helped USF regain the lead by starting a 10-0 run that ended with a pair of back-to-back treys by Jawanza Poland, making the score 40-36 with 13:30 left in the game.
Rutgers began a 9-0 run with 5:34 left in the game, putting the Scarlet Knights on top 61-53, and USF was never able to regain the lead, falling to Rutgers 71-62.
The Bulls look for their first BIG EASTroad win against West Virginia on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Morgantown.
Game Notes
-USF went 15-of-17 from the free throw line, shooting a season-high 88.2 percent. USF's highest previous free throw shooting performance, 87.5 percent, came against Cincinnati on Jan. 12.
-USF has shot over 80 percent from the free throw line for three straight games and has shot over 70 percent from the free throw line for five games in a row.
-USF's first three scores came from the three-point line, with two from Anthony Crater and one from Mike Burwell.
-USF lost its 12th game by nine points or less.
-Jawanza Poland has made 18 free throws in BIG EAST play and has hit 16 in a row.
-Jawanza Poland scored 11 points against Rutgers, the fourth-straight game he has scored in double digits.
-Augustus Gilchrist scored 14 points, extending his double-digit scoring streak to eight games.
-Mike Burwell connected on his first three-point field goal since hitting two against Auburn on Dec. 15.
