Bulls upset No. 17 Pitt

TAMPA Due to its recent surge up the Big East standings, here is what it has come to for the USF men's basketball team: fitting injured forward Gus Gilchrist back into the lineup is suddenly a concern.

No one could have imagined that eight weeks ago when Gilchrist, USF's leading scorer at the time, went down with a severely sprained ankle in practice Dec. 7.

Then again, there have been plenty of surprises for the Bulls lately, such as an impressive 70-61 victory against No. 17-ranked Pittsburgh on Sunday in which the Panthers (16-5, 6-3) never led and USF committed a season-low five turnovers.

Dominique Jones continued his torrid pace, scoring a game-high 37 points as USF won its third consecutive Big East game and beat a ranked team for just the fourth time in 24 tries since joining the Big East five seasons ago. Prior to Thursday's overtime win against Seton Hall, USF had never won back-to-back Big East games.

However, following Sunday's performance in front of a boisterous crowd of 5,370 at the Sun Dome, the Bulls are beginning to think big as they improved to 4-5 at the midway point of the Big East schedule, matching their number of conference wins a year ago. If the Bulls (14-7) can win at least four games in the second half of the conference schedule, they would have a legitimate shot at their first postseason berth since an NIT appearance eight years ago.

"When you win, you feel good," said senior guard Chris Howard, who scored 13 points and added six rebounds Sunday. "We're just focused. We're just going out hungry, trying to prove people wrong. I have never been more excited about basketball here."

On the strength of 13 first-half points from Jones, USF led by as many as 11 before Pittsburgh went on an 11-0 run to tie the game at 22 on Gary McGhee's jumper with 4:14 left in the first half. The Bulls responded with a 7-0 run of their own on baskets by Howard, Mike Mercer (nine points) and Jarrid Famous (eight points), taking a 31-26 halftime lead.

In the second half, USF led by as many as 14 before the Panthers clawed back with the help of Gilbert Brown's career-high 25 points. Pitt trimmed USF's lead to four on three occasions, the last on a pair of free throws by Ashton Gibbs with 4:45 left. But that would be the closest the Panthers would get as Jones, who finished 14 of 17 from the free-throw line, hit eight free throws in the final 2:34.

"We didn't do what we set out to do - keep him off the line," said Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon, whose team was without senior guard Jermaine Dixon because of an injury. "Defensively, we just didn't get it done. They made the plays to win."

The victory marked the first time a USF team has won three consecutive regular-season conference games since a three-game streak in 2003 as a member of Conference USA. It was the Bulls' first win against a ranked opponent since knocking off No..8 Marquette last February.

"That was a big, big win," USF coach Stan Heath said. "We haven't really been in these positions before. It's new territory for us. A week and a half ago, we were trying to get into the race.

"We're in the race right now."

Jones knows why.

"Everybody is just accepting their role," Jones said. "I think that's what winning does to you. It makes you accept the things you usually worry about. You're winning, and that's all that matters."

The Bulls are 6-6 since Gilchrist went down. Heath had hoped the 6-foot-10 forward could return for Wednesday's game at Georgetown, but said that's unlikely after Sunday's win because Gilchrist needs more practice time.

"Would I have taken (6-6)? Probably," Heath said of USF's record without Gilchrist. "But I'm still one of those guys who feels every time we take the floor we've got a chance to win."