TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Despite Record, Heath Sees 'Baby Steps' For USF

Tribune file photo by CHRIS URSO

USF coach Stan Heath said he hoped for more wins this season after the team finished 9-22, but said the program made some progress.

ADVERTISEMENT

By BRETT McMURPHY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 11, 2009

NEW YORK - For the sixth consecutive season, a University of South Florida men's basketball season ended with more losses than wins.

The 14th seeded Bulls lost to No. 11 seed Seton Hall 68-54 Tuesday in the Big East Tournament's opening round at Madison Square Garden.

"We knew this was a historic day for us, our first experience in the Big East Tournament," USF coach Stan Heath said. "We certainly wanted to make it a special first day. We're disappointed it didn't happen."

A 9-22 record was certainly not what Heath envisioned in his second season with the Bulls.

"There were plusses and minuses," Heath said. "We wanted to win more games this year, but we took baby steps.

"We won more games [in Big East play], we were able to win against a top 10 team. That never had happened in our history and we were able to do it minus three potential [injured] starters a lot of the time down the stretch, which is huge."

The Bulls certainly had their shares of ups and downs.

The good: the 57-56 upset of No. 8 Marquette on Feb. 6 marked the highest ranked opponent the Bulls had ever defeated.

USF only went 4-14 in Big East play, but the Bulls had never won more than three games in the Big East in their previous three seasons.

The bad: The Bulls finished with a school-record tying 22 losses and averaged 59 points a game, the lowest scoring team in the program's 38-year history.

This also was one of the worst shooting teams in school history. The Bulls shot 39.9 percent from the field (second worst in USF history); 59.8 percent from the free throw line (second worst) and 29.7 percent from 3-point range (fourth worst and worst in 11 years).

"We've got improve over the summer," Heath said. "We have to get stronger. Certain guys have different things [to improve on].

"We hung in there, I'm proud of these guys. Battling the competition we face, maybe the strongest this league has ever been. We hung in there. You can't blame our guys for that. It was a very challenging year."

USF sophomore Dominique Jones, who carried the Bulls offensively this season, said having experienced the Big East Tournament for the first time will help the team in the future.

Jones admitted he had some butterflies before Tuesday's game with Seton Hall.

"We got that out of our system," Jones said. "When we come next year, everyone will be more focused and feeling more comfortable on the court."

NOTES: In his final season at Arkansas in 2006-07, Heath won 21 games. He is 21-41 in two seasons at USF. … Jones has 1,092 career points after two seasons, the most for a USF player in his first two seasons. Tony Grier (1,084 points) had the previous mark, while Charlie Bradley, the school's all-time leading scorer, had 1,042 points in his first two seasons. … Senior G Jesus Verdejo, who was USF's second leading scorer this season with a 12.2 average, scored only nine points in the Bulls' final seven games. He missed three of those games with a right foot injury.

Reporter Brett McMurphy can be reached at (813) 259-7928.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT