Bulls upset by Central Michigan, 59-56

Not that Stan Heath needed reminding, but as he walked to midcourt after the game to shake hands with Central Michigan's players and coaches, a voice from the Sun Dome crowd yelled what Heath and his Bulls already knew.

"Stan, this is a step back. This is a bad loss," an upset University of South Florida fan yelled after USF's 59-56 loss to the Chippewas on Sunday afternoon.

Big East teams don't typically lose to those from the Mid-American Conference, but forced to use a starting lineup with four guards and without leading scorer Gus Gilchrist due to torn ligaments in his right ankle, USF (7-2) struggled offensively against a Central Michigan (4-5) team that played with more energy and determination.

"We allowed Central Michigan to run their stuff and we allowed them to be the more aggressive team," Heath said. "That's not how we've been playing all year long. If this doesn't wake you up, I don't know what does. It's a painful loss, and it's a loss that hopefully we can overcome.

"I just think our team kind of swallowed a little poison here thinking we were better than what we were."

The game was close throughout, with neither team leading by more than the eight-point edge Central Michigan built in the first half. USF's biggest lead was a 29-24 advantage late in the first half.

The Bulls, who led 31-30 at halftime, fell behind 52-45 on a jumper by Marko Spica with 5:54 left in the game. However, a 7-0 run over the next 2:35 - capped by a dunk from Jarrid Famous for his only field goal - tied the game at 52. Trailing 57-56, the Bulls had a chance to regain the lead after guard Justin Leemow forced a turnover with 30.5 seconds left.

On the ensuing possession, however, Dominique Jones' pass to Mike Mercer went out of bounds with 16.9 seconds left, forcing the Bulls to foul Central Michigan's Amir Rashid. After Rashid made both free throws to put Central Michigan up by three, USF's Shaun Noriega missed a 3-point shot that rimmed out.

USF's final chance to force overtime came at the buzzer when Jones' half-court shot, following a missed free throw by Rashid, bounced high off the backboard. The loss, the Bulls' first at home, snapped a four-game winning streak.

"Our kids really came in and battled," Chippewas coach Ernie Zeigler said. "I thought our kids really came in with a toughness and level of physicality that allowed us to earn a hard-fought win."

With Gilchrist out of the lineup for the first time since injuring his ankle during a scrimmage Monday, guards Jones (game-high 24 points) and Chris Howard (13 points) accounted for 66 percent of the Bulls' points.

Famous (five points, one rebound) and freshman Toarlyn Fitzpatrick (five points, seven rebounds) failed to match Gilchrist's usual production or his presence on the court.

"It's hard to replace 18 points," said Jones of Gilchrist's absence. "I feel like it's a bad loss. We can't hold our heads down. We just have to get better playing with the four guards and one big. If there was a time, this is the time we've got to come together even more."

The good news for Heath on Sunday came when doctors examined Gilchrist and reported that the swelling in the 6-foot-10 forward's ankle has decreased faster than expected. The bad news is that Heath must find a way for the Bulls to avoid more losses like Sunday's during Gilchrist's absence, which is expected to last between four and six weeks.

"We've got to reconfigure our team here and figure out the things we can do to help us," Heath said. "Lots of glaring holes today and some holes I hadn't seen before. I think it's fixable, it's just disappointing that we've got to address it after a loss that we shouldn't have had."