Bulls go to 3-0 with win

Gil Gilchrist hit four free throws in the final minute to push the University of South Florida to a 65-58 victory over Davidson on Thursday night in the first round of the Charleston Classic.

The Bulls' 12-point lead with four minutes to play had been cut to two before they held on.

"That was a really tough game," USF coach Stan Heath said.

"We just could not shake them."

South Florida will play the winner of South Carolina-La Salle at 9:30 tonight inside Carolina First Arena in a tournament semifinal.

By virtue of the win, the Bulls (3-0) guarantee they'll play one more game here Sunday - either the championship or consolation game.

Two first-half fouls knocked Gilchrist out of rhythm early, but he scored the first four points after the half en route to a 19-point second half.

On the same day his name surfaced in connection with alleged NCAA violations, Gilchrist finished with a game-high 21 points.

Junior guard Dominique Jones added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls. Jones and Gilchrist paired to score 29 of the team's 37 points in the final half.

"I got involved and the offense just started opening up," Gilchrist said.

The Bulls could not deliver the knockout punch to a Davidson club that struggled all night to find a consistent scorer - something the Wildcats (0-2) will wrestle with in the wake of losing Stephen Curry to the NBA.

USF led 60-48 at the 4:09 mark, but Davidson responded with a 10-0 run that made it 60-58 with Jake Cohen's back-door lay-in with 57.8 seconds to go.

USF hit only four of 11 free throws in the first half, but Gilchrist hit 13 of 14 by himself in the second half - including four of five in the last minute.

"That's why we practice them," Gilchrist said.

A ho-hum victory might've been better for now, but Heath said there's some long-range value in Davidson making the Bulls sweat.

"Obviously, in some ways, I'd like for us to win by 15, but we had to grind through it," Heath said. "I think in the long run a game like that will pay dividends for us."

Travis Haney

SOUTH FLORIDA (3-0) - Gilchrist 3-9 15-16 21, Mercer 3-7 0-2 6, Famous 2-6 0-2 4, Howard 1-4 6-8 9, Jones 8-15 1-5 17, Dumars 0-1 0-0 0, Leemow 2-4 0-1 6, Fitzpatrick 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 20-49 22-34 65.

DAVIDSON (0-2) - McKillop 1-5 0-0 2, Kuhlman 3-9 1-1 8, Archambault 5-12 2-2 14, Rossiter 4-9 2-3 10, Barr 4-11 2-2 13, Cohen 3-7 1-2 7, Reigel 0-0 0-0 0, Ben-Eze 1-2 0-1 2, Nelms 0-0 0-0 0, Allison 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 22-60 8-11 58.

Halftime-USF 28-23. 3-Point Goals-USF 3-11 (Leemow 2-4, Howard 1-3, Mercer 0-1, Dumars 0-1, Jones 0-2), Davidson 6-23 (Barr 3-7, Archambault 2-6, Kuhlman 1-3, Rossiter 0-1, Cohen 0-1, Allison 0-1, McKillop 0-4). Fouled Out-Cohen. Rebounds-USF 43 (Famous 11), Davidson 34 (Ben-Eze 8). Assists-USF 11 (Jones 6), Davidson 13 (McKillop 4). Total Fouls-USF 17, Davidson 23.

MIAMI 74, TULANE 54: Dwayne Collins had 23 points and 14 rebounds as Miami (3-0) overpowered Tulane (0-2) in the first round of the Charleston (S.C.) Classic. Miami will play UNC Wilmington today at 3 p.m.

WOMEN: USF's GRANT WON'T PLAY THIS YEAR: University of South Florida standout Porche Grant has decided not to play this season due to personal reasons. She is, however, still a member of the Bulls' women's basketball program.