Bulls Rush at the end, hold off Friars 81-78
Monday, January 30, 2012
It’s becoming a familiar refrain for the Friars. Play well for a half, hit a little dry spell, and come up short at the end.
And it happened again in Tampa, FL on Sunday afternoon, with Providence in position on the road to pick off South Florida. Leading by six with just over twelve minutes to play, the Bulls simply wore the Friars out with consistent pressure in the post, and some clutch shooting from outside of the three-point arc to come from behind to win 81-78 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
With a big, physical front line, USF has been able to match up well with most teams on its’ schedule, and the Bulls entered the game with a 5-3 mark in Big East play. Led by a defense ranked at the top of the league (and 13th nationally) in points allowed at 58 points per game, South Florida has steadily improved throughout the season.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBut in the first half Sunday, the Friars managed to find freshman forward LaDontae Henton open inside and out – and “Buckets” led the way with 24 points in the opening 20 minutes. Leading by as much as seven in the period, PC ended the half tied at 39 – with the 39 points scored the most USF has allowed in the first half of any game this season.
Offense, however, wasn’t the problem.
With PC leading 53-47 and 10:53 left, South Florida’s relentless inside game began to wear down the Friar defense. Coupled with key outside shots falling with uncanny regularity – just as Marquette and Pittsburgh managed in the past week – the Bulls pulled into the lead thanks in part to another Providence lull. A 16-1 run in just over three minutes gave USF control; big three-pointers against the PC defense, from 6-8 junior Toarlyn Fitzpatrick and freshman guard Anthony Collins, did most of the damage during the stretch.
“We’re very limited in what we can do with our personnel,” head coach Ed Cooley lamented afterward. “I was proud of the fight, and LaDontae (Henton, career high 33 points) was great. But we’re still making critical mistakes and right now we can’t seem to catch a break.”
Forced to foul in order to play catch up, PC (12-10 overall, 1-8 Big East) almost managed to pull off what would have been a stunning comeback themselves in the final minute of the game. Trailing 77-69 with :36 seconds left, Providence managed to make things interesting with Henton and Bryce Cotton fouled on three-point attempts, and connecting on free throws. USF had trouble closing out with their free throws, and with less than :10 seconds to play the Friars had it down to a one-possession game, trailing by two at 80-78. 6-7 junior Victor Rudd hit just one of two at the line, but PC lost the rebound on his second shot miss…and freshman Brice Kofane failed to foul to stop the clock, giving USF the win.
With the win, the Bulls improve to 13-9 on the season (6-3 in the Big East) and 11-1 on their home floor. PC, losing their 4th straight and 8th in nine games, hopes to sing a different tune and find the win column again with a game against Rutgers Wednesday night at the Dunkin Donuts Center.
Friar Notes
Henton ended the game with a Friar freshman record of 33 points, surpassing the 31 scored by Ryan Gomes in his freshman season of 2002 against Miami. The 24 scored in the first half alone topped his previous high of 21 points scored in a December win over Boston College…USF had a balanced effort with five different players scoring in double figures. Collins and Hugh Robertson led the Bulls with 15, Ron Anderson, Jr. added 14 with Fitzpatrick adding 13 (11 in the second half, with three three’s)…Cotton and Vincent Council added 13 apiece for the Friars, with Council adding 10 assists as well (his second straight double-double, 6th on the season)…with a short rotation and three players playing the maximum 40 minutes on the floor (Council, Cotton and Henton), the Bulls’ consistently punished the Friars with their inside game. 6-8 Ron Anderson dominated early, followed by the 6-8 Fitzpatrick in the second half, 6-11 Augustus Gilchrist, Rudd and the 6-6 Robertson kept up the pressure by guarding Council the entire way. When PC adjusted by doubling in the post in the second half, Fitzpatrick and Collins connected on big three’s from outside, helping to provide the margin of victory. Collins had only hit 1 out of 4 three point attempts for the entire season before connecting on his two huge trifectas…over the past three games (all losses), opponents have now hit 26 of their last 44 three point shots against the PC defense, good for a 59% clip…USF also took great care of the ball, committing only five turnovers during the game, matching their season low. The Bulls turned the ball over 22 times in their previous game at Marquette in a 20-point defeat…telling numbers also included South Florida hitting just 1 of 5 from three-point range in the first half, but 5 of 8 in the second half…USF also held a 44-32 advantage scoring in the paint…the decisive 16-1 second half run shouldn’t have come as a complete surprise. Not only have the Friars “hit the wall” halfway through their second halves largely due to wear and tear, but South Florida has held 18 different opponents this season to stretches of more than 4:00 minutes without scoring a field goal…USF is playing the majority of their home games this season at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in downtown Tampa, which is also home for the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. PC had previously played in the building in December of 2006, losing to Florida State. South Florida’s on-campus Sun Dome is going through a $30 million renovation, scheduled for completion this spring…USF may have one of the biggest players to ever play in the Big East Conference on deck for next year, with 7-3 man-mountain Jordan Omogbehin from Nigeria waiting in the wings…looking for some good news? During the trip, the Friar coaching staff reported incoming recruit Kris Dunn (New London, CT) was named to the prestigious McDonald’s all-American team – the first Friar recruit to receive the honor since God Shammgod in 1995. Dunn and Rhode Island’s Ricky Ledo were both selected for the Jordan Brand all-star game as well…PC returns home to the Dunk Wednesday night to face Rutgers (103.7 WEEI-FM, www.friars.com) at 7:00 pm…
