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Providence Shoots Past South Florida

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By KEN CASTRO, Tribune correspondent

Published: January 13, 2008

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - In his postgame analysis, University of South Florida men's basketball coach Stan Heath acknowledged that his team's defensive effort was less than stellar in an 86-70 loss to Providence College on Saturday afternoon at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

However, he added that a tighter USF defensive performance might have made little difference to the hot-shooting Friars, who knocked down a lights-out 61.9 percent from 3-point range. Providence was paced by junior swingman Geoff McDermott, who collected a career-high 24 points.

The loss marked the third straight defeat for the Bulls, who fell to 10-7 overall and 1-3 in conference play. Providence upped its record to 11-5 and 2-2 in the Big East.

The Bulls, who never led in the game, trailed 43-31 at the intermission.

McDermott hit 8-for-10 from the floor, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Providence connected on 13 of 21 from 3-point range.

The loss put a damper on a 22-point, six-rebound effort by USF's Kentrell Gransberry.

"They shot the ball very, very well and it seemed liked when we finally did get a little closer to them and guard them the way we were supposed to, then they started beating us a little bit off the dribble," Heath said. "I thought McDermott had a heck of a game. It's just a tough matchup for us and he kind of did what he wanted to do - whether it was driving the ball, passing it or even at times posting up.

"To complement that I thought their guys finished the plays outside with shots. Give them a lot of credit. I'm going to look at the film. I don't think our defense was up to par. I don't think we played as hard, even if we played a little harder they shouldn't shoot 62 percent. Those are incredible numbers."

Chris Howard added 16 points for USF, which shot 44 percent (22-for-50) from the field.

"They did a great job of shooting the ball," Gransberry said of the Friars. "We had to do a better job of contesting their shooters and getting hands in their face. Some shots they made were real tough."

USF closed to within 30-28 with 4:12 left in the first half, but Providence responded with a Dwain Williams 3.

"We allowed them to get into a rhythm early. That was our fault. They got open shots, unguarded shots and got their confidence going," Heath said.The loss put the Bulls' road record in Big East games at 0-18.

"It's real hard to get a win in the Big East on the road," Gransberry said. "It just goes to show you have to go into every building and play hard, play tough, try and claw it out and get a win."

Heath did not think USF's previous road failures contributed to Saturday's loss.

"It's irrelevant," he said. "This is the first time for everybody on my team that's ever played here in Providence. This is our first time in this building, so we really don't think about what happened two years ago, and yet we know the importance of getting some road wins. We've been able to get a couple of wins on the road in nonconference. It's now time to do it in the Big East."

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