As the 2012-13 season approaches, we'll count down the days to the first game with a look back at some memorable games in USF basketball history. These may not be the most famous games and they may not be the most crucial to the development of the program.  But they are 15 mileposts that helped to get us to where we are, and each is worth looking back at. 

January 4, 1990

USF 89, UNC Charlotte 86

Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina

By JIM LOUK

GoUSFBulls.com

TAMPA - After 21 wins and 63 losses in the prior three years, everyone was looking for something different from the 1989-90 Bulls.

How that USF team delivered.

The season got off to a promising start as the Bulls won four games they probably should have: Florida International (twice), Bethune Cookman and Stetson.  But then came a loss to Florida State and just before Christmas, a 37-point blowout at the hands of Florida. The Bulls were a respectable 6-3 as the '80's turned in to the '90's, but there were still questions.  Was this team better?  Or was it bound to struggle in conference play again?

Head coach Bobby Paschal was in his fourth season and now had his players and his program in place.  Would it make a difference?

The Bulls had center Hakim Shahid, guard Radenko Dobras, and forward Bobby Russell back.  Fred Lewis transferred from Tampa. Marvin Taylor played point guard.  Tony Armstrong and Andre Crenshaw provided a spark off the bench.  The team was athletic and hard working, but undersized.  The 6-foot-7 Shahid was USF's tallest starter.

Conference play for the Bulls would start on the road against UNC Charlotte (as they were called then). The Sun Belt had become a challenge for the Bulls. Heading in to that January 4, 1990 date in Charlotte, USF had lost 34 of their last 42 conference games, and 10 in a row on the road.

If this team was going to be different, something new had to happen in two places; Sun Belt Conference play, and arenas other than the Sun Dome.

The battle with Charlotte that night was back and forth.  USF was up, 41-39, at the half. The dangerous Henry Williams was hitting from all angles for Charlotte, as was Radenko Dobras for USF.  Coming down the stretch, the Bulls led, 86-83.

One more point on that 8-34 conference record.  Many of the games were close and many were winnable.  The team had seemed to have a knack of letting games slip away.  It was easy to get in to that mindset as the clock wound down in Charlotte.

And then, there it was. Henry Williams, with a hand in his face, hit a three.  Lead gone, 86-86.  You could feel it slipping away again; you just couldn't help it.

But next came the moment that showed this USF team was different.  The Bulls raced down the court, and Marvin Taylor hit an answering three from well behind the line with one second left.  It would be the only three-point shot he would attempt that night.

Bulls 89, Charlotte 86.

Hakim Shahid, who would finally play on a winner in his senior season, had 14 points and 11 rebounds.  Radenko Dobras scored 23.

That game was the catalyst to the rest of the story that you already know.  Two months and one day later, the Bulls won the 1990 Sun Belt Conference Tournament, earning the program's first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Other games in that great run may be more memorable, but none were more important than the night in Charlotte when the Bulls proved that change was in the air.

GO BULLS!