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Postgame Video:
USF: Stan Heath | F Augustus Gilchrist and G Anthony Crater
Louisville: Coach Rick Pitino
TAMPA - Junior Augustus Gilchrist notched his second-straight double-double as the University of South Florida men's basketball team came up short in the Sun Dome Sunday, losing to No. 23 Louisville 86-77.
USF falls to 6-11 overall and 0-4 in the league while Louisville improves to 13-1 in the league and 2-0 in BIG EAST action.
The Bulls struck first in the game with a jumper from Jarrid Famous, and seemed to out-play the Cardinals in the first half. The Bulls overcame a five-point deficit early in the half, then jumped out to a six-point lead with thirty-six seconds to go in the half, tying what would be the largest lead for the Bulls in the game. At the break, the Bulls headed into the locker room with a 48-45 lead
At the half the Bulls' field-goal percentage was 51.7, from inside the arc, and 55.6 percent from outside the arc, compared to Louisville's 48.4 and 46.2 percentages. Both scoring leaders at the half came from the bench with Jawanza Poland scoring 12 and Augustus Gilchrist scoring 11, both also shot perfect from the foul line, and the team shot 13-for-15 from the foul-line.
Coming out of the half, the Bulls once again drew first points with a dunk by Famous. Famous finished with nine points and one take away on the game.
With 16:28 to go, the Cardinals claimed their first lead of the half with a three-pointer. With a total of seven lead changes in the second half, Sean Noriega quickly responded with a trey, giving the Bulls a 55-54 lead with 16 minutes left in the game.
The Cardinals then went on a 10-0 run, taking a 64-55 lead, which was soon countered with a 10-0 run by USF in the 10th minute. During the 10-0 run the Bulls flashed with a series of highlights with a dunk by Gilchrist, a block by Poland on a Louisville fast break, a three-pointer by Noriega, and a steal by Anthony Crater. The take-away by Crater positioned Poland to reclaim the lead for the Bulls, after Louisville's fourth team foul of the half. Hitting both free-throw attempts, the Bulls took a 65-64 lead, with momentum behind USF with less than 10 mintues to play.
With extreme runs by both teams, the game saw a three-minute drought after Louisville had taken a one-point lead with 8:25 to go. The drought ended on a 3-pointer with five minutes left, in which the Cardinals took a 69-65 lead. The Bulls never recovered, losing 86-77.
The Bulls will look to claim their first BIG EAST win of the season when USF plays at Cincinnati on Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. Cincinnati suffered its first loss Sunday to No. 7 Villanova and holds a season record of 15-1 and 2-1 in league play.
Game Notes:
• USF set a season high in assists with 22. The previous high was 20, which came against St. Francis on Nov. 15.
• USF has only lost one games by more than nine points this season (Villanova).
• USF matched their season high free throw shooting percentage with 76.9 percent. Their first night of shooting 76.9 from the stripe came against BYU on Nov. 26.
• USF set a season high in first half points and most points in a half with 48. The previous high for first half points came against Georgia Southern (39). The previous high for points in a half came against Texas Tech (45) in the South Padre Invitational.
• Shaun Noriega started for the third time this year, and second-straight game. His other starts came against Southern Miss and Villanova.
• Shaun Noriega has scored multiple 3-pt field goals in back-to-back games after only hitting one in the previous seven games.
• Shaun Noriega made a 3-pt field goal to tie the game at 18 at 11:50 in the first half. Noriega has connected from the 3-pt line in back-to-back games for the first time this season.
• Jawanza Poland scored eight points off the bench in the first 7:30 of the game.
• Augustus Gilchrist made his first 3-pt. field goal since Dec. 1 against VCU.
• With his 25 points and 10 rebounds, Gilchrist registered a double-double in back-to-back games. His first double-double of the season came against Villanova, when he had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
• Gilchrist set a season high 25 points against UofL. His previous high (23) came against Georgia Southern on Nov. 21.
• Anthony Crater set a career high with 10 assists. Crater's previous career high in assists (8) came against Villanova.
• LaVonte Dority connected on his first field goal attempt since Nov. 27th against Texas Tech. The shot was a three-pointer, his second of the season.
• Louisville guard Preston Knowles has averaged 20 points per game in the last 5 games, going 21-of-43. The Bulls held Knowles to 12 points, shooting 3-of-9 from the field and 2-of-6 from the three-point line.
