Headline not often seen....

[Brad]

Cards steal one late against South Florida

By Russ Brown

KENTUCKY.COM

LOUISVILLE — Heading into the final minutes of a still-up-for-grabs game against South Florida Saturday, Rick Pitinio's message to his Louisville basketball was a familiar and simple one: Play defense.

U of L (16-8, 4-7) responded by holding Big East Conference doormat South Florida (6-17, 0-10) without a field goal in the final nine minutes as the Cards escaped with a 57-54 victory in Freedom Hall and kept their hopes alive for earning a spot in the league tournament next month.

It was the 1,500th all-time win for Louisville, which is 1,500-801 in 90 seasons of intercollegiate basketball.

U of L played the final 16:47 without starting center David Padgett, who suffered a concussion when he got tangled up with USF's Solomon Jones in a rebounding battle, fell and hit his head hard on the floor. He was helped off the court by trainer Fred Hina and team doctor John Ellis, sat at the end of the bench for a few minutes and then was taken to Jewish Hospital for tests as a precautionary measure. Padgett's availability for Louisville's next game at Syracuse Saturday was uncertain.

"The good news is it's not his (previously injured) knee, and hopefully he will be fine," Pitino said. "He took a pretty good hit and banged his head on the floor. But we have a week before our next game and generally you can come back from that in that length of time."

While U of L will take any win at this point, it wasn't the kind of victory calculated to inspire confidence. The Cards, a 15-point favorite, struggled all the way against a team that has now lost 12 in a row.

"We had to really dig in deep, get into the trenches and play awesome defense down the stretch," Pitino said. "They're a veteran ballclub and they have no quit in them."

South Florida's final field goal of the afternoon was Melvin Buckley's three-pointer at the 9:11 mark that gave the visitors a 50-44 lead. After that the Bulls missed 11 straight shots and committed three turnovers the rest of the way.

USF still owned a six-point lead, 52-46, when James Holmes hit two free throws with 8:40 remaining, but following a TV timeout, Bulls coach Robert McCullum noticed a distinct change in the Cards.

"Louisville's defense down the stretch was outstanding," McCullum said. "When we got up by six points they came out a different defensive team. They were determined — like their season hinged on the last four or five minutes. That was the pressure they had. My hat's off to them. Tradition-rich teams do that and unfortunately we did not respond."

The Bulls played into Louisville's hands, however, by not continuing to attack on offense, instead running the shot clock down and then jacking up poor shots.

"That was good for us," U of L guard Brandon Jenkins said. "I'd rather let them run the clock like that and us play solid defense."

"We finally decided we were going to play hard and not regret anything," forward Juan Palacios said. "We got it together and played great defense."

Taquan Dean, who led all scorers with 21 points, hit what proved to be the winning basket — a three-pointer from the right wing that broke the game's seventh tie and were the final points, giving U of L a 57-54 lead with 2:46 remaining.

Then the Cards had to survive several USF attempts to tie the score in the final minute when Holmes missed two three-pointers and Buckley one. The Bulls' last chance came when they called timeout with 14.2 seconds left. But Holmes missed a contested three from the left of the key over Palacios as time expired.

For the day, Holmes, who scored 16 points, and Buckley (13) hit just 5-of-20 treys.

"James actually got a pretty good look," McCullum said of the final shot. "We wanted to create a drive and kick. That's probably as good a look as we were going to get there."

Dean said U of L's defense had the Bulls back on their heels throughout the final nine minutes.

"They were actually confused," Dean said. "That was great defense. At that point, strategy is out the window and it's all defense. Key stops were the major factor in the game. At the end we just wanted to stay down on their shooters and make them take a tough shot."

Besides Dean, who also led all rebounders with nine, Jenkins was the only double-figure scorer for the Cards with 11 points. Jenkins matched his career-high with four steals.

Sophomore Terrance Farley, who played 14 minutes in place of Padgett, scored a career-best six points.

Frustrated by his team's rebounding problems, Pitino started rarely-used junior Perrin Johnson into the starting lineup in place of point guard Andre McGee, with Dean moving to the point and Palacios at small forward.

But Johnson got only three rebounds in 16 minutes and the Cards were outrebounded for the 10th time in 11 Big East games, 32-27.

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[bulls96go]

if we had one more warm body to run out there for solid mins we would have won a couple of BE games already!

[Rabbi Bull]

if we had one more body we would have won today

[Guest_Pariah]

If only we had a really talanted kid that could be here and put us over the top . . . .

USF guard dismissed for behavior Series

Copyright Times Publishing Co. Nov 2, 2005

David Sills, the talented but transient playground legend from New York City's famed Rucker Park courts, has been dismissed from USF's basketball team before he played his first game.

Sills, a 6-foot-1 junior expected to contribute as a backup at both guard positions, was dismissed Tuesday, unable to mesh with the discipline and structure of coach Robert McCullum's program.

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/920529161.html?MAC=9ccc24ff7e8822cc0868ccf573599d65&did=920529161&FMT=FT&FMTS=FT&date=Nov+2%2C+2005&author=GREG+AUMAN&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&printformat=&desc=USF+guard+dismissed+for+behavior+Series%3A+COLLEGES+BASKETBALL

[bulls-n-beer]

IM not blaming capco or any thing. But if we had a point guard who could score 10 points a game which is not alot to ask we would have won a bunch conference games.  And we do have that point guard, just on the bench with a injury. And also cant blame Mac for this either.

[Velcro]

IM not blaming capco or any thing. But if we had a point guard who could score 10 points a game which is not alot to ask we would have won a bunch conference games.  And we do have that point guard, just on the bench with a injury. And also cant blame Mac for this either.

exactly!!!

[Triple B]

If only we had a really talanted kid that could be here and put us over the top . . . .

Howard Lost For Season With Knee Injury

TAMPA, Fla. – University of South Florida men’s basketball player Chris Howard has been lost for the season because of a knee injury, head coach Robert McCullum announced Wednesday evening.

“We are very disappointed about the loss of Chris,†McCullum said. “It’s devastating for our team to lose a player with his level of skill and talent. He had already established himself as a leader on the floor because of his presence, and that is saying a lot when upperclassmen are looking to him for leadership.â€Â

Howard suffered the injury to his left knee on Tuesday afternoon at practice and a tear of his anterior cruciate ligament was confirmed today.

Howard, a freshman from Lorton, Va., was expected to take over the starting point guard duties vacated by the graduation of Brian Swift. He will now redshirt in 2005-06 and still have four years of eligibility remaining.

[Bull Matrix]

You can tell by reading that article that the people in Lexington, KY really do hate Louisville. Talk about a paper waiting to bash the Cards at every chance they can get. Anyway, USF players are fighting hard which is all I wanted out of them this season. Capko has actually improved throughout the season. He handled the UL press OK which I never thought he would be able to do because he couldnt even handle Jacksonville Univ's press earlier this season. Anyway, I believe our coaching staff is giving our players the best chance at winning games. It is just up to the team to excute, and not freeze up down the stretch. The BIG EAST wont allow for not playing hard for 40minutes.