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Bulls' Momentum Disappears Quickly

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 10, 2009

TAMPA - What passed for a crowd at the Sun Dome was actually making a bit of noise Tuesday night when Dominique Jones finished off a breakaway dunk. The game had been threatening to get away from the University of South Florida, but now the Bulls were within five points of Providence.

The visitors called for time. A little more than four minutes remained. The band was blaring. Students were cheering. The gathering of 3,340 was actually daring to believe.

But if you've followed the Bulls to any degree over the years you know what happened next. Plays that had to be made, weren't. Shots that had to fall, didn't. Turnovers that couldn't happen, did.

A game that could have been won, wasn't.

A night that could have been one of those turning points USF always seems to be searching for turned into just another 77-62 Big East beating.

Any notion that Friday's win over Marquette might have a carryover effect was pretty well shot, and with it the chance to finally win two in a row in this league. It is really quite remarkable. I mean, this was USF's 61st game in the Big East and the Bulls still haven't put together consecutive conference wins.

"I'm on a plane at 6 in the morning to go recruiting," a weary USF coach Stan Heath said.

You can almost hear the sales pitch now. If someone out there is interested in making an immediate impact, Heath can give him an opportunity - particularly if he has some size and can score a little bit inside. The Bulls have multiple openings there, just in case the recruit might have some friends.

There are nights in this conference where the Bulls are simply overmatched, but this wasn't one of them. Offense will come and go but defense should be a constant because that primarily requires effort.

As Heath acknowledged, "We went from a very hungry team that was on a mission together to tonight when it just wasn't there."

It was there for Jones, the marvelous sophomore guard. He finished with 29 points, but ominously he was also the Bulls' leading rebounder with eight. USF simply doesn't have the inside game to compete nightly in this conference.

"We need a little more on the interior," Heath said.

And since we're having fun with numbers, consider these: The Bulls' bench was outscored 35-6. And just to keep tradition alive, USF was five of 16 from the free-throw line.

These are fundamental things - defense, rebounding, free throws.

Beating Marquette was a landmark first win against a top-10 team, but it also raised the stakes. They've proven they can be a nuisance, but they haven't proved they can bring it every night in a league like this.

As the final seconds evaporated and the crowd began to wander out into the cool Florida evening, Heath's expression betrayed his exasperation. Afterward, he just shook his head and said, "This wasn't what I expected."

He expected his team to show that what happened Friday was really the start of something new, but obviously it wasn't. Maybe that will happen eventually, but on this night the Bulls simply couldn't handle the job.

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