Bulls Outlasted at Pitt, 67-55

Wednesday, February 16

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7:00 PM

University of South Florida

Pittsburgh

Bulls Outlasted at Pitt, 67-55

February 17, 2011 | Men's Basketball

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By: USF

TAMPA - The University of South Florida men's basketball team gave No. 4 Pittsburgh a scare, but ultimately couldn't hang with the Panthers in a 67-55 loss at the Petersen Events Center on Wednesday night.

Hot-shooting sophomore Shaun Noriega led the Bulls (8-19, 2-12) with 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting from three, and Jarrid Famous and Augustus Gilchrist added 10 each in the loss.

Nasir Robinson and Brad Wanamaker paced the Panthers (24-2, 12-1) with 13 points apiece.

USF shot 50 percent (10-20) from the field and 4-of-8 from long range in the first half and ended the night 20-of-42 overall and 6-of-13 from three.

Robertson opened the scoring for the game with a trey from the right wing, and the Bulls jumped out to a 14-10 lead off of seven points from Robertson. Pitt tied the game at 18, then again at 20 before taking off on a 10-0 run. Augustus Gilchrist hit a pair of free throws with 2:33 left in the half to halt the Pittsburgh scoring before Noriega hit back to back three balls in the last minute of the period, cutting the deficit 36-29 at the break.

In the second, Famous hit back-to-back buckets and Augustus Gilchrist made consecutive baskets while being fouled to pull the score within one, 44-45, but a 15-2 run by the Panthers was too much for the Bulls. Sophomores Noriega and Mike Burwell each hit a three with less than a minute remaining, but Pittsburgh outlasted the Bulls down the stretch.

USF next faces No. 9 Georgetown, the Bulls' third-straight top-10 opponent, on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Sun Dome in Tampa.

Game Notes
- USF's starters were Anthony Crater, Jawanza Poland, Hugh Robertson, Toarlyn Fitzpatrick and Ron Anderson Jr.

- The USF bench outscored PITT's bench 35-15.

- USF shot 50 percent (10-20) from the field and 4-of-8 from long range in the first half.
- Sophomore guard Shaun Noriega hit back-to-back threes before the half and finished the night with three on his way to 13 points. Noriega was coming off his six-trey, 23-point night against Notre Dame on Feb. 12 in Tampa.

- Noriega has hit multiple threes in eight games this season. He has also hit a three in 10 of his last 12 games.

- Hugh Robertson opened the game's scoring by hitting a three, his 25th of the season. The junior guard has hit a three in 17 games. Robertson scored seven of the team's first 14 points.

- Senior Jarrid Famous scored 10 points for his 10th double-digit scoring night this season. Famous also added two blocked shots.

- Junior Anthony Crater dished out six assists, his 16th game with four or more assists.