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Bulls Take 9th Win In 10 Games

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By GREGG BECNEL, Tribune correspondent

Published: December 30, 2007

Updated: 12/29/2007 11:55 pm

TAMPA - After starting the season with three losses, the University of South Florida men's basketball team closed out the nonconference part of its schedule by winning nine of its last 10 games, including Saturday's easy 87-48 victory against Winston-Salem State in front of 3,003 at the Sun Dome.

"These last 10 games have been great for our confidence," said center Kentrell Gransberry, who had his sixth double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds. "It gets us ready for conference play. We wish we could've started better, going 0-3, but Coach Stan Heath always emphasizes it's how a team finishes."

Aaron Holmes, from St. Petersburg Catholic, had a breakout game in front of about 30 family members and friends, coming off the bench to score a career-high 20 points in just 19 minutes.

"I had a lot of people from back home cross the bridge to come watch so it was a pretty exciting night for me," said Holmes, who was 5-for-8 from 3-point range. "I was feeling it. Coach got mad at me for passing up a 3-pointer so I decided to start letting them go."

Heath said Holmes will help open things up underneath in Big East play.

"He helped us with depth on the perimeter and gave us a weapon that people are going to say, 'Hey, this guy can shoot the ball. We better guard him,'" Heath said. "Aaron was impressive. Once he started shooting the ball like he can, he got his confidence. He's a guy who can get on a roll. In 19 minutes he gets 20 points. I don't care who you're playing, that's pretty impressive."

For the second consecutive game, sophomore Adamu Saaka set a career high in points, netting 17.

"Amu wasn't playing a whole lot early on in the season and looked tentative," Heath said. "But now he's got his confidence and is helping us in a lot of ways. He's knocking down open shots, he's active on the glass and he's playing pretty good defense. He's been a big boost for our team."

Despite shooting just 35 percent from the floor and committing 11 turnovers in the first half, USF led 32-21 at the half.

The Bulls (9-4) led by as many as 43 late in the game and were threatening the school record for largest margin of victory (49 points vs. Oglethorpe in 1972).

INSIDE THE GAME

PLAYER OF THE GAME: USF center Kentrell Gransberry shot 10-for-15 from the field and finished with a game-high 21 points and 14 rebounds in 23 minutes.

STAT OF THE GAME: USF's muscle underneath was too much for the Rams, as the Bulls outscored WSSU 42-24 in the paint.

TURNING POINT: USF, ahead by 11 at the break, put the game away when it opened the second half with a 30-11 run to make it 62-32.

UP NEXT: USF hosts Rutgers on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

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