Jones seeks repeat performance vs. Hoyas

Posted Mar 10, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Mar 10, 2010 at 07:57 AM

USF’s signature victory during an unexpected run toward an NCAA Tournament bid came Feb. 3 over Georgetown.

The Hoyas, ranked No. 7 at the time, led by nine at halftime. In the second half, Bulls junior guard Dominique Jones took over, scoring 22 of his game-high 29 points after halftime.

The lasting snapshot of that game is a photo of Jones flexing his muscles to the stunned Georgetown crowd at the Verizon Center.

The victory made people pay attention to USF for the first time in years.

“Another amazing game 4 D. Jones as USF beats Hoyas on road 4 4th in a row! Wow! Jones had 29 n now has 140 in last 4 W’s!’’—Dick Vitale on Twitter

Another Twitter message, this one from ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunard: “Are the USF Bulls on the NCAA Tournament Bubble after their win over Georgetown?’‘

Five weeks later, the Bulls are squarely on the bubble as they prepare to face Georgetown again this afternoon at Madison Square Garden in the second round of the Big East Tournament.

If USF wins, many think the Bulls will be heading to March Madness for first time in 18 years; if they lose, all bets are off.

Jones, who scored 20 points in Tuesday’s victory over DePaul, knows what he must do today against the Hoyas.

Play like he did in the second half of USF’s win five weeks ago.

“I think the team feeds off what I do positively and negatively,’’ Jones said Tuesday. “I turned it up, and when I turned it up, everybody else turned it up. I think that passed the message to us that we’ve got to play with high energy out there.

“We’ve got to get steals [and] deflections; we’ve got to get out in transition. That’s something we’re going to try and do.’’

Stay tuned. Tipoff is at noon.