TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Bulls Will Attempt To End Conference Road Futility

ADVERTISEMENT

By BRETT McMURPHY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 17, 2008

NEWARK, N.J. - Since winning its Big East opener on Jan. 2, the University of South Florida men's basketball team has responded with its three worst defensive games of the season.

The Bulls allowed 89 points at Syracuse, 79 to Pittsburgh and 86 at Providence in dropping three consecutive games.

"It's been mental breakdowns on the court and they're shooting the hell out of the ball," USF freshman guard Dominique Jones said. "I've never seen teams shoot like that when they haven't shot like that all season until they play us. They don't miss, but we can play better defense."

It doesn't get any easier tonight when USF visits Seton Hall, the Big East's second-highest scoring team, averaging 82.2 points.

"I think," said USF freshman guard Aaron Holmes, "you will see a major improvement on the defensive side."

USF coach Stan Heath is confident the Bulls (10-7, 1-3 Big East) will improve and hopes they'll bounce back from their three-game losing streak much like they did earlier in the season. USF opened the year with three consecutive losses before winning seven consecutive games.

"The important thing for us is to fix us," Heath said. "Fix the things we can do better and don't get caught up on playing on the road, playing Seton Hall. That's irrelevant.

"It's a good thing we've kind of gone through this early in the season. We fought back. I know deep down the guys can do it and will do it."

To do so at Seton Hall's new home, Prudential Arena, the Bulls must stop an 0-for-18 streak of having never won a Big East road game. USF has lost 22 consecutive conference road games since 2005, when the Bulls were in Conference USA.

"I don't lose sleep over that," Heath said. "I lose sleep, but not over that.

"I don't think about it and my team doesn't think about it either. That's a previous experience unfortunately. We represent South Florida and we're the ones that are going to carry the torch and fix the problem."

Added senior center Kentrell Gransberry: "We have to play harder and execute. We just have to toughen it out and have defensive pride. Guys are not helping out one and another. We have to have a team effort."

Although the Pirates (10-6, 0-3) are in the Big East cellar, they feature the league's No. 2 and No. 5 scorers in forward Brian Laing (19 points) and guard Eugene Harvey (17.2 points).

Laing is the latest in a line of Big East forwards who have given USF trouble during its three-game losing streak.

"A key component is to stop some of these front-court players," Heath said. "Syracuse's Donte Green had 21 points, Pittsburgh's Sam Young had 22 and Providence's Geoff McDermott had 24. We have to do a better job, not allowing teams to get in a rhythm,"

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

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT