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USF Bests UCF Again For 5th Straight Win

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By BRETT McMURPHY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 2, 2007

TAMPA - If the football series between the University of South Florida and UCF was as competitive as Saturday night's men's basketball contest, they might not have decided to end it.

Although the USF-UCF meeting in the Sun Dome was more competitive than the gridiron, the result was all too familiar for the Knights - another USF victory.

USF freshman guard Dominque Jones had a career-high 30 points along with five assists and four steals as the Bulls downed UCF 75-67. As the final seconds ticked down, USF's students taunted UCF with chants of "just like football, just like football."

"As long as he doesn't read the paper, I'll feel good about it," USF coach Stan Heath joked. "I don't want him to get the big head. He played really well. He's very aggressive, he's making a lot of plays. He's growing up. He's really dangerous."

Heath, who has coached his share of outstanding freshmen at Arkansas, said Jones' 10 of 13 shooting night ranked right up there.

"It was definitely as good as any of their performances - freshmen All-Americans Patrick Beverly and Ronnie Brewer," Heath said.

Since opening 0-3, the Bulls have won five consecutive contests.

"Down the stretch we're playing a lot better," Heath said. "We're playing a lot smarter. We made some good adjustments. We talked about taking care of basketball, rebounding.

"We did a heck of a job the last seven minutes defending."

After UCF's Tony Davis pulled the Knights even at 61 with 6:11 remaining, UCF missed five of its final seven shots as the Bulls closed out with a 14-6 run.

Senior Kentrell Gransberry, who had to carry the Bulls' offense last season if USF had a chance to win, pitched in 11 points and a season-high 15 rebounds. Jesus Verdejo added 10 points. Chris Howard and Orane Chin had eight points each.

"Every night I'm not always going to be the leading scorer," Gransberry said. "It's great to know guys like Dominque, Jesus and Chris can pick up the scoring for me.

"I'm happy. I don't really carry about scoring, just doing whatever I can to win."

Jermaine Taylor led the Knights with 20 points and Tony Davis nearly had a triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and a school-record eight blocked shots.

INSIDE THE GAME

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Dominque Jones' 30 points was three off the school's freshman single-game record of 33 by Radenko Dobras vs. Jacksonville in 1989.

STAT OF THE GAME: State champs? The Bulls are 4-0 against state schools, their most wins in a single season since 1995-96 team went 4-1 against state opponents.

TURNING POINT: Tied at 61, Chris Howard and Jones scored consecutive baskets and the Bulls held on down the stretch.

UP NEXT: USF visits Richmond on Wednesday.

Reporter Brett McMurphy can be reached at (813) 259-7928 or bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com.

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