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Bulls Unable To Rebound Against Rutgers

The Associated Press

Rutgers' Earl Pettis knocks the ball away from South Florida's Dominique Jones during the second half.

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By AARON BRACY

Tribune correspondent

Published: March 7, 2009

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - South Florida and Rutgers put on such a woeful offensive performance on Saturday that it would be best to take the tape, lock it in a box and throw away the key.

The Big East's worst two scoring teams combined for the fewest points in the league this season and USF set a season low for points.

In the end, though, it was what the Bulls failed to do on defense that cost them their seventh loss in eight games, 45-42 to Rutgers at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.

USF (9-21, 4-14 Big East) gave up four offensive rebounds to the Knights in the final 1 minute, 10 seconds, the last of which resulted in an Earl Pettis layup that gave Rutgers (11-20, 2-16) a 45-42 lead with 3.1 ticks left. The Bulls had a chance to tie, but Gus Gilchrist's 3-point attempt from the left wing just before the buzzer went long.

"Not being mentally tough and physically tough to get three rebounds in a row, that was the game right there," said USF's Jesus Verdejo, who scored five in his return to the lineup after sitting out the previous two games with a right foot injury. "I'm talking about hustle, wanting it, having the guts to get the rebound. We had the ball, but they just took it from us."

If the Knights were tougher on the boards, it might have been because they had so many chances.

Rutgers, which snapped an eight-game losing streak, took its largest lead of the game when JR Inman drained a 3 to make it 43-34 with 8:40 left. Then the Knights proceeded to miss 13 straight shots. The Bulls, who never led, slowly inched closer and had two chances to go ahead, but Gilchrist missed a layup with 2:31 left and Dominique Jones did the same 36 seconds later.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, they would get just one more offensive possession because Rutgers dominated the glass down the stretch.

"I felt like their whole team was going to the boards and only three of our team was going," said Jones, who led all scorers with 11 but shot 5-for-19. "It's very frustrating because we feel like we should've won that game."

The star sophomore's struggles certainly didn't help the Bulls' cause. After netting 30 in Tuesday's 70-59 win over Cincinnati, Jones couldn't find the range against Rutgers.

With Seton Hall winning at Cincinnati on Saturday, the Pirates earned the No. 11 seed in the Big East Tournament and will face No. 14 USF in Tuesday's first-round game at 9 p.m. USF, which clinched the No. 14 seed on Tuesday, lost at Seton Hall 75-60 on Feb. 25.

The USF-Seton Hall winner will play No. 6 seed Syracuse in Wednesday's second round at 9 p.m.

Reporter Brett McMurphy contributed to this report.

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