MBB USF MEN'S BASKETBALL: at No. 3/4 Louisville Preview

[Brad]

Courtesy USF:

 

USF MEN’s BASKETBALL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: Jan. 10, 2013

 

GAME DAY INFORMATION

Date: January 12, 2013

Location: Louisville, Ky.

Tip-off: 4 p.m. Eastern
TV: BIG EAST Network/BHSN -

Jim Barbar and Darrin Horn

Radio: 98.7 The Fan- Jim Lighthall and Todd Kalas

Arena: KFC YUM! Center

 

The Game

The University of South Florida men’s basketball team takes its first BIG EAST road trip of the 2013 season as it heads to No. 3/4 Louisville to take on the Cardinals at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 12 at the KFC YUM! Center. The Bulls (9-5), picked to finished eighth in the league, are coming off of a 53-61 loss to Villanova while the Cardinals beat Seton Hall on the road 73-58 (Jan. 9). USF took the last meeting between the two squads in Louisville.

 

THE BROADCAST

The USF vs. Louisville game be on the BIG EAST Network and will air locally on BHSN with Jim Barbar (play-by-play) and Darrin Horn (analyst) on the call. Additionally, fans can listen to the game on 98.7 The Fan with Jim Lighthall (play-by-play) and Todd Kalas (analyst) calling the action.

 

The Coach

Head coach Stan Heath is in his 26th season of coaching, 12th as a head coach and sixth at USF. He has posted a 194-173 overall record and is 82-96 at USF. Heath has made four NCAA appearances (2002-Kent State, 2006 and 2007- Arkansas, 2012 - USF) and one NIT appearance in his 11-year career.

 

A special Season

The Bulls are coming off a special 2011-12 season that saw the team make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991-92 and pick up their first NCAA wins as they advanced to the Third Round after recording wins over California (First Round) and Temple (Second Round). USF tied the school record in wins with a 22-14 record and posted its best-ever finish in BIG EAST play with a 12-6 record for sixth place which secured a first round bye in the conference championship for the first time. Head coach Stan Heath also earned his first BIG EAST Coach of the Year award and the Bulls advanced to the BIG EAST quarterfinals for the first time in program history.

USF VS. VILLANOVA NOTES

Team

-USF held Villanova to its lowest point total (61) since Dec. 5 and to 11.5 points under their season scoring average

-Villanova is the second-straight team the Bulls have held to at least 10 points under their season scoring average

-USF held its fourth-straight opponent to under 25% shooting from the 3-point line

-USF held its 11-opponent to 61 points or less

-USF posted its 11th game with 11 turnovers or less

-USF had four players with at least five rebounds a piece.

-USF used the same starting lineup for the third-straight game in Anthony Collins, Victor Rudd, Jawanza Poland, Toarlyn Fitzpatrick and Martino Brock.

 

Individual

-Victor Rudd posted his third-straight double-figure scoring game with 12 points

-Jawanza Poland led the team in rebounding with six boards

-Toarlyn Fitzpatrick reached double-figures for the ninth time this season with 10 points

-Zach LeDay posted five rebounds, his most since seven against UMES (Nov. 16) and played 18 minutes, his most since 19 against Western Michigan (Nov. 18)

-Anthony Collins reached double-figures for the second time in three games with 11 points

 

REBOUNDING RUDD

During the offseason, Victor Rudd made an effort to improve his rebounding game and has done just that this season leading the team with 7.9 per game. As the season has gone on the junior has continued to grow in that area as he is averaging 8.7 boards over the last five outings alone. He’s posted four double-digit rebounding efforts this season and has pulled down at least seven in eight of the 14 games so far this year.

 

NOT YET AT FULL STRENGHT

Injuries have been a factor for the Bulls through 14 games as USF has yet to play at full strength. Sophomore guard Musa Abdul-Aleem missed the first seven outings due to an aggravated foot injury. Sophomore Anthony Collins played limited minutes for the first seven games and was sidelined against Stetson due to a calf injury. Senior Shaun Noriega has missed the last six games due to a foot injury and senior Kore White missed the last four games also with a foot injury. Additionally, freshman JaVontae Hawkins was out for five games with a back injury.

 

STARTING OFF QUICK

The Bulls have no break when it comes to a tough BIG EAST schedule as they face the current top two teams in their first three games of league action. USF opened its conference slate against No.7 Syracuse and then faced Villanova at home before it heads to No. 3/4 Louisville on Saturday. The Bulls will follow that up by heading to Rutgers then hosting Georgetown.

 

ATTENDANCE IS UP

Following the renovations to the new Sun Dome - the Bulls have seen a big jump in home game attendance, averaging 5,163 per game over 11 home contests. USF saw its largest crowd since 2001 when it hosted No. 7/7 Syracuse (Jan. 6) when 10,024 USF fans came to the Dome. Last year the Bulls averaged 3,849 per home game while two years ago 4,230 came to the Dome.

 

BACK-TO-BACK

USF junior forward Victor Rudd posted his second-straight double-double against No. 7/7 Syracuse with 15 points and 11 rebounds. It was his fourth double-double of the season and he became the first player since Augustus Gilchrist in January of 2011 to post back-to-back double-doubles.

 

SHORT BENCH

Due to injuries the Bulls have been forced to play with a short bench as five players are logging 30+ minutes over the last three outings. Jawanza Poland, Victor Rudd, Anthony Collins, Toarlyn Fitzpatrick and Martino Brock are all playing at least 30 minutes a game.

 

LATEST NCAA STATS - Jan. 6

The Bulls are now 12th nationally in turnovers per game at 10.8. Additionally, Anthony Collins is fifth in assists (7.8) and 18th in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.1). He’s one of just two players nationally to be in the top five in assists and top 20 in assist-to-turnover ratio, joining Larry Drew III from UCLA.

 

3-PT FG OFFENSE AND DEFENSE

The Bulls are currently third in the league in 3-point FG percentage defense forcing teams to shoot just 28.6 from long distance in the latest Big East Stats. On the offensive end, USF is third in 3-point FG percentage, shooting 35.2 percent from beyond the arc.

 

TAKING CARE OF THE BALL

In 14 outings this year, the Bulls have only had three games with more than 11 turnovers. Over six of the last nine games, USF has posted 10 or less turnovers while also accomplishing the feat in eight out of the last 11 games. The Bulls currently rank 12th nationally in turnovers per game at 10.8 (as of NCAA statistics through Jan. 7). The Bulls only had 11 games all of last season with 11 turnovers or less.

 

CLUTCH FROM THE FT LINE

The Bulls have been nothing but clutch from the free throw line during the final two minutes of close games. The Bulls went 18-of-18 from the FT line during wins over George Mason and at UCF after going a combined 12-of-26 outside of the final two minutes. Additionally, over the last five outings, the Bulls are shooting 89.7 percent (26-of-29) during the final two minutes.

 

HEATH CLOSING IN ON 200

Bulls head coach Stan Heath is nearing his 200th career win. He currently stands at 194-173 in 12 seasons as a head coach. Heath has reached 20 wins five times and advanced to the NCAA tournament four times (2002, 2006, 2007, 2012). 

[BullFan98]

Defense has been good, keeping opposing offenses to low scoring. Our offense needs to step it up.

[DELdaBull]

This has massacre written all over it.

[CousinRicky]

We are away from the Indian Burial grounds.  Big upset coming.  Too much of this

[Vega]

I believe USF wins this game, and no I'm not kidding.

 

Stan Heath is a good HC and sooner or later pride and desperation will kick in for the players. It will be stunning but USF 71-67

Looks like Kore White might play

Edited January 11, 2013 by Vega

[DELdaBull]

Dieng is gonna be feasting.

[BullFan98]

I believe USF wins this game, and no I'm not kidding.

 

Stan Heath is a good HC and sooner or later pride and desperation will kick in for the players. It will be stunning but USF 71-67

Looks like Kore White might play

Could very well happen, but in my opinion, if it does then the score will not be that high. 

[redbird2001]

Uh no way. I think UL wins by at least 12.

[DERBY]

 

I work in an office building right across the street from the main entrance to the YUM! Center.  This has been up in my window all week long.  Just got my tickets from StubHub in the mail yesterday!!!! Here's hoping for the long-shot win!

[charsibb]

 

I work in an office building right across the street from the main entrance to the YUM! Center.  This has been up in my window all week long.  Just got my tickets from StubHub in the mail yesterday!!!! Here's hoping for the long-shot win!

 

Nice!

 

Way to rep the Bulls!