Bulls in Big East jam with 2 games left

Posted Mar 1, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Mar 1, 2010 at 12:31 PM

The USF men’s basketball team did what it had to do Saturday: beat Providence.

In case you missed it, click here to read Tampa Tribune correspondent Gregg Becnel’s game story.

The win kept USF’s hopes alive for a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament, scheduled to start March 9 at Madison Square Garden. The top eight teams in final regular-season conference standings earn a first-round bye.

USF (17-11, 7-9 in Big East) travels to face DePaul (8-20, 1-15) on Tuesday in another must-win game for conference tournament seeding.

USF is currently in a four-way tie for ninth with Cincinnati, Connecticut and Seton Hall. If the Bulls can beat DePaul and close the regular season with a win at home against UConn on Saturday, USF would finish 9-9 in the Big East.

Click here to check out the latest Big East standings. The only game on the league schedule today is tonight’s Georgetown at West Virginia game.

Notre Dame, coming off a big win over Georgetown on Saturday, is currently eighth at 8-8. The Hoyas are seventh at 9-7. So, in order to get a first-round bye, the Bulls must win out and hope Notre Dame loses both of its final Big East games or that Georgetown loses both of its remaining games and USF somehow wins a tiebreaker with whichever teams are standing at 9-9 in the conference.

In the victory over Providence, some key factors played a role in USF’s victory:

—The Bulls got back into the open court the way they were doing during their winning streak earlier in the season, using their defense to create more layups and easy scoring opportunities. USF shot 57.1 percent from the floor and attempted only 11 3-pointers, down from 22 in a 74-49 loss at Villanova on Wednesday. The Bulls also outscored Providence 10-0 on fastbreak points.

—Dominique Jones got back to the foul line. When Jones shoots four or less free throws in conference play, the Bulls are winless. On Saturday, Jones finished with a team-high 26 points and hit 14 of 16 FTs.

—Forward Augustus Gilchrist looked like his old self, scoring 21 points, his most productive game in nearly three months.

—Seniors Chris Howard (20 points) and Mike Mercer (18) played like the veteran leaders they must be down the stretch for USF to have any chance at making a run at the Big East Tournament.

—The Bulls took much better care of the ball, committing only 11 turnovers after turning the ball over 23 times at Villanova.

Note: To read more about USF’s game at DePaul on Tuesday, check out the blog this evening or Tuesday’s edition of The Tampa Tribune.