By TOM ZEBOLD

USF Senior Writer

DAYTON, Ohio - The Bulls met the press about an hour ago and had lots of tasty tidbits for those attending at Dayton.

Among the greatest hits were head coach Stan Heath proudly talking about freshman point guard Anthony Collins, who he called a "Christmas gift." Collins made the Big East All-Rookie Team this season.

Defense was a hot topic of discussion (no shock there) and Heath and senior Ron Anderson Jr. went into great detail about the team buying into the philosophy that helped USF post the best defensive performance in the Big East this season.

"We want to disrupt you," Heath said. "We want to smell your breath. We want to get underneath your skin. We want to make life miserable for you and we want to do it the right way."

"It all boils down to fundamentals," Anderson Jr. said.

The Bulls are currently staying put at Dayton's practice facility to get a workout in before more preparation at the hotel.  One thing I quickly noticed is the Bulls' intensity as soon as they stepped onto the court.

Anderson Jr. was diving for basketballs and sprinting down the court for a dunk with the team clapping the whole way. The focus is definitely there as well for a team that definitely came to work a day before taking on California in the first round.

Keep GoUSFBulls.com as your go-to destination for USF news all the way through the tournament. I'll have some stories up shortly and video guru Seth Leavitt will have some fun things to watch by tonight.