Win A Welcomed Change For Bulls

[JeffreyBEllis]

The South Florida Bulls sent Larry Eustachy's Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles spiraling into the cellar of the Conference USA standings with a victory over USM last evening in Hattiesburg.

USF 72, USM 61

Win A Welcomed Change For Bulls

By BRETT McMURPHY bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com

Published: Feb 3, 2005

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - There was something different about South Florida's visit to Southern Miss on Wednesday night.

First, there was USF senior Bradley Mosley sitting on the bench, making his first road trip of the season while continuing his battle with a rare form of kidney cancer.

Second, there were actual smiles on the Bulls' faces when the Reed Green Coliseum clock expired. For the first time since Jan. 5, the Bulls walked off with a victory, downing the Golden Eagles 72-61.

``I haven't seen those smiles in a while,'' USF senior guard Brian Swift said. ``It was nice.''

In a battle of Conference USA's last-place teams, the Bulls (9-10, 2-6 C-USA) withstood a second-half rally in winning only their second game in school history in Hattiesburg.

``Coach [Robert McCullum] gave us an ultimatum,'' Swift said. ``If we wanted to go the conference tournament [the bottom two teams don't qualify], then we had to win.''

The Bulls won, but it wasn't easy. USF nearly blew a 17- point first-half lead, allowing the Golden Eagles (10-10, 1-7) to close within 51-49 early in the second half.

``At that point, I was concerned,'' McCullum said.

However, USF junior James Holmes, who didn't practice Tuesday because of the flu and a 101-degree fever, nailed a 3- pointer, keying a 13-2 USF run that sealed the victory.

``I knew I had to knock it down,'' Holmes said. ``They were making their run. I had to stop it.''

The Bulls welcomed back leading scorer and rebounder Terrence Leather from his one-game suspension and Leather responded. He led USF with 22 points and nine rebounds. Perhaps more impressively, after fouling out in 12 minutes against Cincinnati in his last game Jan. 27, Leather played 37 minutes and had no fouls.

``I don't know if that that will ever happen again,'' McCullum joked.

Swift said he noticed a more determined Leather, who moved within nine points of becoming USF's 16th 1,000- point career scorer.

``As soon as he stepped in the airport, I could see he was determined to get back out there and do well,'' Swift said. ``He was upset and mad he let his teammates down.

``He expressed that in the locker room before the game. He said he was all about business from here on out.''

Besides Leather, the Bulls also got contributions from Swift (14 points), Marius Prekevicius (11 points), Collin Dennis (10 points) and Solomon Jones (nine rebounds).

Leather said having Mosley on the trip was a big motivator.

``To see Bradley on this trip is wonderful,'' Leather said. ``I wish he was out there with us. He had 30 [points] on them last year. It's great to see Bradley. He's our lucky charm.

``Coach said if we wanted to know anything about fighting, look over at No. 12. He's fighting [cancer] every day. That put the game in perspective. We came out with fire in our eyes.''

The Bulls outrebounded USM 37-22, but McCullum said having USF open with a 30-13 lead was huge.

``Having lost six consecutive games, getting off to that start was a big, big key,'' McCullum said. ``You could see the guys just play with more and more confidence.

``It was a total team effort.''

[ChiTownBull]

before the season i said i would be happy with 12 wins and we are getting close.

I say 14 to 16 wins next season  ;D

[Jake_Ryan]

There is much to love in that article.