South Florida 65 Cincinnati 57

(Tampa Tribune/Chris Urso)

In another typical dismal road effort, the South Florida Bulls (16-9, 6-7) beat down the Cincinnati Bearcats (15-10, 6-7) 65-57. And it wasn't even that close. I was optimistic that this team had turned the road corner, and thought that this late in the season, 2 weeks after getting humiliated on the road against Notre Dame, that Cincinnati would have the road woes straightened out. Turns out, I was wrong. The Bearcats had a late flurry to cut the margin to something a more respectable. I am on the record of saying that we shouldn't look ahead, and I'm keeping with that. Sunday afternoon against Marquette is the biggest game of the season. It's not a must win because the season isn't on the line, but it's the next closest thing. Let's not skim over this one though, as nice as that would be. First off, South Florida played hard, and made all the plays necessary to win. Their zone had UC baffled, and they made shots. I hope that they can string together another streak, and make a run at the NCAAs. It's the underdog champion in me. The Bulls were lead by, of course, Dominique Jones. Jones poured in 26 on just 12 shots, because he made 10-12 free throws. He also had 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Mike Mercer had 12-2 steals. Augustus Gilchrist (pictured) was rusty in his second game back, but had 10-6. Anthony Crater had 9 off the bench. Chris Howard had 4 points, but 7 assists. The other 4 were scored by Toarlyn Fitzpatrick. UC was lead by Deonta Vaughn. The senior scored most of his points late, and finished with 14-2 assists-2 steals. Cashmere Wright had 14, 11 in the second half, and 5 boards. Ibrahima Thomas had 5-7 rebounds, but every board in the first half. Darnell Wilks had 5 in garbage time. Rashad Bishop put in 6. Lance Stephenson scored 4, all coming early, and only played 20 minutes. Dion Dixon and Yancy Gates had 3, Jaquan Parker 2, and Steve Toyloy 1 to go with 5 rebounds. 

The first 12 minutes set basketball back 80 years, as AstroBull kindly said on twitter. The game started with a jumper by Stephenson, and a 3 by Jones. The 2 trash talked nearly the whole first half. Rashad Bishop made a jumper, and USF got 1 free throw from Chris Howard and 1 from Jones to take a 5-4 at 15:45. Cashmere Wright scored off a lay up out of the timeout. The teams went into a prolonged slump. UC missed bunnies, and USF missed mainly jumpers. There were shot clock violations, airballs, wild passes and a couple turnovers. USF scored at the 13 minute mark with a Mike Mercer j, that was quickly answered with Yancy Gates' only basket. Steve Toyloy threw a pass right to Anthony Crater, who scored a lay up. The 9-8 score at 11:15 was highlighted by UC going 4-14, 0-3, 0-2 at the stripe, and USF going 3-7, 1-2, 2-4 with 3 turnovers. It was worse than it looks. Crater scored again after the break, leading to a pathetic sequence. Gates would be blocked by Alex Rivas, USF turnover, UC turnover, Gus Gilchrist had a great upfake, losing Thomas, but blew the dunk, and Dion Dixon dropped the rebound out of bounds. Dom Jones scored after that. Deonta Vaughn stepped on the timeline for a turnover, USF threw away the inbound pass, Jaquan Parker traveled, and Lance Stephenson couldn't grab a rebound and flipped the ball right to Anthony Crater, who passed to Mike Mercer for 3. Truly terrible basketball. UC went from the 12:29 mark to 7:10 without a basket before Jaquan Parker scored a lay up. At the 6:54 break, it was 15-10. Out of the break, 20% 3 shooter Mercer would hit another trey. UC went zone after this for I believe the rest of the game. UC got the points back on an Ibrahima Thomas basket and foul. Lance hit 2 free throws to make it a 3 point game, 18-15. USF got the next 4 on a Mercer j from the elbow, and 2 Jones free throws. UC went on a 7 point run with a Toyloy free throw, a Vaughn 3, a Thomas j and a Cash free throw to tie the score at 22. Crater made the last field goal of the half, and Gates scored the last point of the half on a free throw, giving us a 24-23 score. UC was 8-24, 1-6, a horrible 6-13, with 15 rebounds, 8 offensive, and 6 turnovers. They were lead by Thomas 5-7(5 offensive) Lance 4, 2 fouls, 3 Vaughn, Gates, Wright, 2 Parker, 1 Toyloy. USF was 9-23, 2-6, 4-6, 15 rebounds 5 offensive, 7 turnovers. Lead by Mercer 9, Jones 7-4, Crater 6, Howard 2-4 assists.

USF jumped on UC right from the whistle to start the half. Toarlyn Fitzpatrick scored the first non-guard points for USF. Gilchrist nailed a 3, probably the shot pictured, causing a UC timeout. Jones would hit a jumper, and get a steal from Gates into a break away lay up that put him 5th all time in USF scoring, and the Bulls up 10 at the 15:52 mark. UC's possessions were  

1. A Mercer steal of Stephenson
2. Stephenson taking a bad shot, followed by a Thomas missed put back
3. Vaughn throwing away the inbound pass after the timeout at 17:51
4. An offensive foul by Ibrahima
5. A Stephenson turnover
6. A Vaughn airball

Cash came out of the break with a lay up off a Gates steal for the Cats first basket of the half at 15:30. UC hadn't scored a field goal in 6:30 of game time, and had just 1 point in that frame. Jones hit 1 of 2 at the line at 15:25 and more ugliness set in. Stephenson and Jones threw away passes. Cash took a wild lay up that hit the top of the backboard. USF would travel. Dixon and Gates would miss. Jones would miss. Deonta Vaughn missed a lay up that started a USF breakout for Crater to put USF up 11, 36-25 at 12:50. Cash would bank home a runner for UC's second basket of the half, but the zone defense was broken for a wide open dunk for Gilchrist off a Howard pass. Dion Dixon came down and threw a pass right to Alex Rivas. Fitzpatrick would draw a foul for USF, and it was a 38-27 game with 11:27 left. The teams combined for 24 turnovers at this point. Fitzpatrick made both the free throws off the timeout for a 13 point lead. Dixon hit a jumper from the elbow for UC, but USF got the points back off free throws. Mercer hit only 1 of 2, but Gates dropped the rebound out of bounds. Jones,fouled on the inbound play, made 1 of 2. He got hot with that. He hit a jumper, 2 free throws, and a press breaking lay up around a made free throw by Dixon and Wright. The lead was 18. UC had a mini-run, with a Bishop dunk, Wright put back, Bishop jumper, and a Dixon steal where he went to the floor to flip the ball to Wright for a lay up. USF had a Gilchrist free throw after the Bishop dunk. UC blew a couple of chances to make things interesting quickly. Wright got a steal, but threw the ball away. Wright got a rebound off a subsequent Jones missed 3, sent an outlet to a cherry picking Ibrahima Thomas, but Thomas lost the ball while waiting for a flying USF player to go by before he went for his lay up. That sequence was fitting of the blown opportunities. At 3:44, it was 50-39. Crater fired a pass to Howard, who hit a reverse lay up, out of the break. Vaughn, who finally woke up, hit 2 free throws, then Gilchrist hit 2 fts, then Vaughn made a lay up and drew a foul for a 54-44 score with 2:44 left. USF broke the UC press easily with a Crater to Mercer lay up. Vaughn was fouled and hit 1 of 2. Dominique Jones dribbled out nearly the whole shot clock, and managed to shake Dixon for an open 3 that sent up a big "USF" chant from the crowd. The game ended with a Gilchrist dunk from a Jones pass off a press break, 2 Vaughn free throws, 1 Crater free throw, 2 Wright fts, 2 Jones fts, a Darnell Wilks 3, 1 Jones ft, and a Wilks put back.

UC shot 19-49, 3-11, 16-26, grabbing 28 rebounds, 14 offensive, with FOUR assists against 15 turnovers. USF was 21-43, 4-10, 19-26, with 23 boards, 8 offensive, 13 assists, 15 turnovers. 

All in all, a truly awful UC performance. At no point in the second half did anyone but the most homeriffic UC fan think they had a chance to win. There was no fire. There was no determination. No one stepped up when the going was tough and made things happen. Deonta scored 9 straight at the end, but come on man, you need to do that in the middle of the game. Where was that at the 12 minute mark? UC got nothing from the front court, nothing from Lance. Cash played well off the bench, which was the only positive. Thomas rebounded well in the first half, which is half a positive. I want to talk about what Mick said after the game, but that might come later today or Thursday. 

2 final thoughts. 

1. I don't know what kind of offense this team runs. A new assistant needs to be hired in the offseason to install an offense. Guys standing around dribbling doesn't work. No one looks inside. No one looks for anyone off the wing. Everyone looks out for themselves. 4 fucking assists is pathetic. This team can't shoot, so maybe that had something to do with it, but share the ball.

2. I don't know what kind of mental toughness this team has. They pretty much folded, besides an 8-1 run when USF took the foot off the pedal. They don't show up on the road for 40 minutes. UAB, Notre Dame, and last night were no shows. Seton Hall, St John's, and Louisville were partial efforts. But, all 6 of those games were losses. The only road game they played tough in the whole way though was Xavier. And in that game, like St John's, they couldn't close out a late lead and blew it. I really don't know what this team is. 

Bulls Batter Bearcats

Dominique Jones (pictured) scored 26 points and had 5 rebounds as South Florida beat Cincinnati 65-57. The Bulls built an 18 point lead in the second half against a rather disinterested Bearcats team before letting up at the end. The game was incredibly ugly. UC was 19-49, 3-11, and a disgusting 16-26 at the stripe. Deonta Vaughn finished with 14, most coming late as he had 9 in a row near the end, as did Cashmere Wright. UC had 14 offensive rebounds, but couldn't make many shots off those. South Florida shot 21-43, 4-10, and  19-26. The Bulls and Bearcats combined for 32 turnovers, both 16. The score at the half was 24-23 USF, and UC didn't show up to start the second. USF scored 21 of the first 27, and that was basically your ball game. A terrible effort at a time where we can't afford them. UC is 15-10, 6-7. South Florida is 16-9, 6-7. Congratulations to the Bulls, they played hard and deserved it. More tomorrow.

Know Your Opponent: South Florida Bulls edition

Tonight on ESPNU at 7, the 15-9, 6-6 UC Bearcats hit the road again, this time to Tampa, Florida to play the host 15-9, 5-7 South Florida Bulls. This is the final of the mirror games for Cincinnati, and another sweep would be perfect. The Cats took care of the Bulls 78-70 January 20. Lance Stephenson was injured, causing Jaquan Parker to start and have a career day, going for 15-4-5 in 35 minutes. Parker has played 45 minutes since, and scored 10 points, and probably won't get any minutes tonight. That's a shame. Deonta Vaughn went off for 20. UC shot 56% for the game. The Cats held dynamo guard Dominique Jones to 21 points, and it took him 19 shots to get there. But, as you should have seen in the Q&A with AstroBull, USF isn't the same team. They have won 4 of 6, including wins over Georgetown and Pittsburgh, and get big man Augustus Gilchrist back. For the sake of not spelling that out every time, I'm calling him Gus. Cavalier, I know. The Bearcats are coming off their best road half since maybe the Xavier game. The Bulls have won their last 3 at home, but are just 8-3 for the season. How will this shake out? Let's look inside the numbers. But first, check out Voodoo 5 for all your USF needs, and an interview with me that USF Athletics said on twitter was "interesting," and "context for tonight." Also, check out my interview with him that CNati said "was a good interview that gave a nice state of the Bulls." You're welcome America. Numbers, predictions now.

Questions and Answers: Starring AstroBull from Voodoo 5

(All female USF fans are this)

With a pivotal game with South Florida on the docket for later tonight, AstroBull and I thought it would be great to swap some questions about the teams. AstroBull writes the excellent Voodoo5, which has been fun to read with USF playing well. Sure enough, I answered some of his questions right here. He asked some great questions. Here are my amazing questions to him, with his even more amazing answers.


BearcatsBlog: Dominique Jones seems to have slowed down lately. Has he hit the wall, had a slump, getting tired? 


AstroBull: I think its teams figuring what what we can't do, which is the inability of shooting the ball from deep. Teams are collapsing on defense when we drive to the basket, forcing a pass out to Anthony Crater or Mike Mercer to shoot, but they can't do it consistently. Gilchrist coming back will scare some teams out of this as he is our best shooter, but teams are going to be content on making everyone but Jones beat them on a nightly basis. 


BB: Gus Gilchrist recently returned from injury. How did he look against Marquette? What can we expect from him?


AB:Coach Heath said that Gus was going at about 80% on Saturday, and it showed a little bit. He looked pretty good on the offensive end, but was a little slow defensively trying to guard the quicker forwards of Marquettte. He will probably get 20-25 minutes like he did on Saturday, and he should do a better job defensively against Toyloy and Gates. Offensively he just needs to hit the open shot when it gets to him and things will be all good.


BB:South Florida has dropped a couple on the road after their 4 game win streak. Do you think they have enough in the tank to finish the season strong?


AB: God I hope so. Having Gilchrist will be huge down the stretch, but I think the biggest thing is having 4 of the final 6 games at home. Even one of our away games is DePaul, so its a fairly easy schedule the rest of the way. Connecticut at home to end the season will be a big one if both teams are still alive for a NCAA bid.


BB: Besides Jones, who should we look out for in the game?


AB: I think you have to keep an eye on Gilchrist. He will make Gates or Toyloy play away from the basket, which should hopefully free up the lane for Jones or Mercer. At 6'11 he has the best shot on the team, including Jones. If the bigs play off of him a little when he is at the top of the key, he will make them pay all night long. The magic
number for him will be 15 points. If he get to 15 then I think the Bulls will win this one.

BB: How much fun has this season been after years of struggling?

AB: Words can not describe how happy I am for the basketball team. I've been following the team since 2003, and to finally see the team even in consideration for an NCAA bid has been huge. Seeing the big donor seats three-quarters empty for games was embarrassing. Student turnout was horrendous, as I could walk into the student section seconds before tip off and get a first row seat. People are finally starting to talk about the basketball team for the first time in ages. That alone makes this season a success. If an NCAA big comes out of it that is awesome, but even a trip to the NIT gets the ball rolling for next season.

100 thanks to AstroBull for answering my questions, and for giving such great answers. I'm pulling for South Florida to win the rest of the their games after we (hopefully) destroy them tonight. Visit Voodoo 5, it's great, and I'll be linking to it later in the Know Your Opponent preview, so click on it lots of times.

Cincinnati 78 South Florida 70

(Cincinnati Enquirer)

The Bearcats were powered by Deonta Vaughn's 20 points, and an unlikely source to beat South Florida Wednesday night. With Lance Stephenson on the shelf due to an ankle injury he suffered in practice Tuesday, Jaquon Parker entered the starting line up and put in 15 points to go with 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Rashad Bishop had a nice game as well with 15 points. UC improved to 13-6, 4-3, and South Florida fell to 11-7, 1-5. The Bulls were powered by Dominique Jones who scored 21. But, it took him 19 shots to get there. He did have 6 boards and 4 assists. USF also got good performances by Chris Howard (16-10) and Jarrid Famous (14-7-2 blocks). The Bearcats had a great offensive game shooting 56% from the field. They shot 36% from 3, but a woeful 13-23 at the free throw line. USF shot 44%, 17% deep, and 13-17 at the stripe. Let's take a look at how the Bearcats got the win.

As soon as the ESPN2 coverage kicked off, we found out Lance wasn't playing and that the starting line up was Bishop, Yancy Gates, Vaughn, Parker and Steve Toyloy. Parker got right into the grove by making the Bearcats first shot, a 3. Yancy Gates powered a 10-4 Cats start with 6 points, but picked up 2 silly fouls and sat on the bench from the 15 minute mark on. South Florida would use that momentum to go on 10-3 run capped by a Dominique Jones lay up for the lead. Jones had 6 of the first USF 14. The teams traded makes before UC went on a run that featured a put back by Ibrahima Thomas, his only 2, an alley oop lay up from Vaughn to my best friend Dion Dixon, and a Vaughn lay up and 2 free throws to take a 23-16 lead halfway through the half. That was a really long sentence. USF wouldn't lay down here either storming back into the lead 24-23 thanks to 4 of Mike Mercer's 10. UC, believe it or not, settled into taking 3s at this juncture with Parker, Dixon, and Darnell Wilks, who played awful, missing. Rashad Bishop would break a 26-26 tie with a 3 and UC would hold the lead the rest of the game. Spoiler alert. UC was able to pop the lead to 8 on a Parker lay up, Bishop lay up and a Vaughn 3. Jarrid Famous had 8 points in the half, and broke up that Cats run with a lay up of his own. Steve Toyloy would get those points back on a dunk off a batted around offensive rebound. The half ended with Deonta Vaughn wisely getting fouled while attempting a 3 and netting all 3 freebies for a 41-32 UC lead at the half. Both teams shot 50%, USF 13-26 UC 15-30. USF was 0-6 from 3 and 6-7 at the stripe, while UC was 4-11 and 7-9. Scoring wise, Jones had 10, Famous 8 and Mercer 6 for the Bulls. For the Bearcats, Vaughn had 13, Bishop and Gates 6, and Parker and Toyloy 5. UC turned the ball over just twice that half. The difference was the 3 point shooting, gasp!, and the Bearcats ability to offensive rebound.

The foes swapped buckets to start the second half. Yancy Gates wasn't a fan of the action, so he picked up his 3rd foul with 17:30 left. Steve Toyloy would have a dunk where he went from one side of the basket to the other, and the Cats lead by 10 at the first media break. The Bulls would continue to chip away and fall back behind. A 3 on 1 break for a Jones dunk to make the score 49-43 was met with a Deonta Vaughn 3 on the other end to push the lead to 9. Yancy Gates would re-enter the game at the 14 minute mark, and still not be impressed and get his 4th foul and head back to the bench with 13:51 left. The Bulls cut the lead back to 5 when Chris Howard hit the first USF 3 with the shot clock running down. Jaquon Parker would not stand for it, and go on a 6-0 by himself. Parker hit a jumper, free throws and a lay up to give the Cats a 58-47 lead. Biggie McClain would extend the lead to 12 by taking, and making, his first free throw of the season. He ruined the perfection by missing the second. With 8 minutes left, the Bulls would make their last run. Dominique Jones hit his only 3, Bishop would make a UC jumper, and Jones would score a lay up. Cashmere Wright played 4 minutes and the only stat on the box score was a turnover as he threw a pass Anthony Crater picked off and took for a lay up with 5:49 to go. Mick Cronin would call time out, but the next trip down the court Rashad Bishop threw a pass right to Crater, and Crater took the ball to the rim for the last of his 4 points and made the score 61-56. The next sequence would seal the game. Dion Dixon banked in a j from the free throw line that was as ugly as it sounds. Rashad Bishop would score a lay up on a nice inbounds play to make the lead 7. The star of the night Jaquon Parker took his man down on the box and nailed a turnaround jumper for his final points and made the UC lead 9. The last major gasp for USF was airballed by Crater with 3:24 left. Vaughn made a lay up to get the lead to 11. Chris Howard came back with his last 3 to cut the lead to 8, but USF's press was broken, ending in a lay up by Gates. The last 2 minutes were spent with USF trying to score, and UC at the line, where they weren't very good. Rashad Bishop went 1 of 2, but got a dunk off the rebound of his miss. Yancy Gates would miss both. Larry Davis missed his first 2 free throws of the year. South Florida didn't score, so it didn't really matter much. But you would like to see the men iron it out from the line.

All in all, this is a good win for the Bearcats. Like I mentioned earlier, this wasn't so much a must win as a can't lose. If the Cats lost this one, along with losing to Seton Hall and St John's, they would have been in trouble in the Big East. Instead, they are a game over .500 and can get back to 2 games over as they travel down I-71 to face the Louisville Cardinals Sunday afternoon. One last time, I want to mention Jaquon Parker. He was that good tonight. If he can step into the point guard role that UC needs, it could be the break the Cats need to get the offense going. Steve Toyloy and Rashad Bishop played very well too. Toyloy had 9-8 in a game Gates spent much time on the bench. The rebounding needs to shape up, because Louisville hits the glass hard, especially on the offensive end. Let's enjoy this one until Sunday.

Bearcats throw down on Bulls

(Enquirer/Joseph Fuqua III)

The Cincinnati Bearcats added their 13th win to 6 losses and 4th win against 3 Big East losses in a win over South Florida (11-7 1-5) Wednesday night. Bearcat star Lance Stephenson injured an ankle in practice and was held out. News didn't break until before tip off. The man who started in his place was Jaquon Paker, and he took advantage. Though he didn't lead UC in scoring, Deonta Vaughn had 20, Parker had 15-4-5 assists. Rashad Bishop helped fill the Stephenson void with 15. Steve Toyloy (pictured) had a solid 9-8. For the Bulls, Dominique Jones lead the way with 21-6-4. Chris Howard and Jarrid Famous both had solid games. Howard had 16-9, and Famous 14-7-2 blocks. The Bearcats shot 56% for the night, and held the Bulls to 44%. The teams seemed to swap runs. UC would have a 9-0 run, and the Bulls would counter with a 7-0 run. But, at about the 4 minute mark after USF cut the lead to 5, UC would go on a 6 point run to seal the deal. Nice win for the Cats. More tomorrow.

Know Your Opponent: South Florida Bulls edition

The Cincinnati Bearcats look to sweep their 2 game homestand tonight on ESPN2 against the South Florida Bulls. The Bulls beat the Bearcats last year in Tampa, powered by Dominique Jones' 30 points. Jones is fresh off scoring 20 against Rutgers in the Bulls first Big East win this season. The Bearcats are looking get over .500 once again. This is an important game for the Bearcats. Not because it's a must win, but because it's a can't lose. The Bearcats are starting to get on the NCAA radar if you check out various bracket projections, and a loss against one of the bottom teams in the Big East really hurts your resume. How do the Bearcats match up with the Bulls? Before we take a look at the numbers, be sure to check out Astro's Bulls Blog. It's very good, and has all the USF news and views you could ever want.