A big improvement for South Florida - conn paper

[ChiTownBull]

http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061231/SPORTS/612310359/1006

A big improvement for South Florida

Don't tell anyone associated with South Florida some of these early-seasons wins aren't worth noting. The Bulls will take all the victories they can get.

The school's debut season in the Big East last year was anything but successful in men's basketball. South Florida won only one of 16 conference games and finished 7-22 overall.

The Bulls, picked to finish last in this season's preseason coaches' poll but looking worthy of challenging that predication, have already exceeded last season's win total. They improved to 8-5 and snapped a four-game losing streak with Friday's 75-67 win over Wake Forest and today host Bethune-Cookman.

The timing of South Florida's Big East opener might not be ideal considering UConn will be looking to prove it's a better team than what was on display Saturday afternoon at West Virginia.

Melvin Buckley leads South Florida with 17.2 points per game and four others average 12 or more.

An important test

After spending every game in the comforts of home, UConn's young team failed miserably in its first road test. The second opportunity on unfamiliar grounds doesn't figure to be much easier when the Huskies go into the gym of a team trying to reach a second straight Final Four.

LSU, although missing a key cog after Tyrus Thomas left early for the NBA, returns a core of players from last season's run to the national semifinals. The big piece back is Glen "Big Baby" Davis, who's averaging 19.7 points and 10.7 rebounds so far.

The Huskies will again face a test both on and off the court as the Pete Maravich Assembly Center is expected to be rocking. The nationally-televised game will receive added hype since the season premier of ESPN's College GameDay is set for the morning of the game.

[Bull Martin]

They want to justify why they're going to lose another game!

[bulls96go]

need 6

to save mac's job