Noriega's key shots lead USF past Friars

PROVIDENCE, R.I. Shaun Noriega did what was asked of him by making one game-changing shot against Providence on Saturday afternoon.

But making two?

South Florida basketball coach Stan Heath didn't want to be greedy, but his wish was Noriega's command in the briefest of cameos against the Friars at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

Noriega's pair of 3-pointers put the Bulls in position to close out a 55-48 victory over the Friars, a win that lifted USF four games over .500 in Big East play for the first time since the Bulls joined the league in 2005.

Two free throws by freshman point guard Anthony Collins with 56.8 seconds to play put the Bulls on top for good, but it was Noriega who allowed USF to erase a 46-41 deficit on back-to-back possessions.

The North Port native needed just 50 seconds to stick a pair of daggers into the heart of Providence's 2-3 zone defense, two shots from the left wing that gave the Bulls their fifth victory in their last six tries against the Friars and squared the all-time series between the two programs at 6-6.

"I definitely knew my time was going to come," Noriega said. "We needed some shots at the end and my coaches and teammates have faith in me."

Noriega hadn't played in four of USF's previous six games, and the 12 total minutes that he earned on Jan. 24 against Marquette and Feb. 4 against Georgetown came in contests that the Bulls lost by a combined 50 points. The junior guard had gone from starter to afterthought before sealing a season sweep of the Friars, a stint that Heath had in mind during a team talk that he delivered on Friday.

"You never know when your turn is going to come," Heath said. "He perked up and had a pretty good practice yesterday."

USF (15-10, 8-4 Big East) continued its surprising season by showing some grit inside the final minute to pick up a sorely-needed road victory. The Bulls went 8-for-10 at the foul line to snap a two-game losing streak away from the Forum and improve to 3-9 in road and neutral games this season.

"We're trying to get to the NCAA Tournament," Noriega said. "We need road wins like this."

Any victory at all would satisfy Providence (13-13, 2-11), which lost for the fourth time in its last five conference games. All four of those have come by seven points or less, including an 81-78 loss against USF on Jan. 29.

"It's not fun seeing those kids suffer," Friars' coach Ed Cooley said. "We just need to get better."

The Bulls had their superb defense to thank for handing Noriega a chance to be the hero. Providence shot just 30.8 percent in the game, a mark that included a dreadful 1-for-12 showing from 3-point range.

USF paid special attention to Friars freshman LaDontae Henton, who exploded for 24 first-half points on his way to a career-high 33 in the first meeting between the two teams this season. Henton was a pedestrian 3-for-8 and finished with seven points in the rematch.

"Much better job," Heath said. "Much better attention to detail against him."