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Bulls Go Cold, Fall To Knights

By TONY MEJIA

Tribune correspondent

Published: December 7, 2008

ORLANDO - South Florida sophomore guard Dominique Jones exploded against UCF again, but this time, his efforts weren't enough.

Jones scored 31 points, one more than the total he put up against the Knights last season, but missed a key jumper and two free throws as the Bulls managed only three points in the final 4:28, the last of which came on a Jones' runner in the final seconds with the outcome already decided.

UCF, on the strength of senior guard Jermaine Taylor's 30 points, won 71-63, beating their Tampa rivals for the first time since 1994.

USF had beaten the Knights nine consecutive times, but were visiting the school's year-old on-campus arena for the first time. The Bulls handled the pressure of partisan crowd well for most of the first half, leading by as many as nine points. But for the second consecutive game, they couldn't hold the lead. Coming on the heels of Wednesday's overtime loss at UAB, Coach Stan Heath admitted that unlike the previous blown leads at UAB and Virginia, this game wasn't one they ever really had a handle on.

"We were in control of those two games against Virginia and UAB, but we really never had it here after halftime," Heath said. "I thought we had a couple opportunities to seize momentum and keep their crowd from becoming a factor, but they hit some big shots and we really never got on track the way we wanted. They just played a better game."

Jones tied his career-high with the 31 points on 11-for-17 shooting, but his teammates combined to shoot 11-for-36 (30 percent). Jesus Verdejo, who entered the game as USF's leading scorer, finished with 15 points on 5-for-14 shooting and had a game-high seven turnovers. The Bulls turned it over 21 times to remain winless on the road for the season.

Help is on the way, though, as the Bulls will soon debut Georgia transfer Mike Mercer and freshman newcomer Gus Gilchrist, who at 6-foot-10, might also be the team's best pure shooter. The two are expected to play in the team's next game, at home against Niagara, after completing the NCAA moratorium on transfers.

"You won't see our team have as many lapses with those guys in the lineup," Heath said. "Truth is, we were way too one-dimensional out there tonight."

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