USF Men's Basketball Preview: Seton Hall/BIG EAST First Round

[Brad]

USF MEN’S BASKETBALL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: March 11, 2013

GAME DAY INFORMATION

Date: March 12, 2013

Location: New York City, N.Y.

Tip-off: 7 p.m. EST

TV: ESPNU - Mike Patrick and Len Elmore

Radio: 98.7 The Fan- Jim Lighthall and Todd Kalas

Arena: Madison Square Garden

The Game

The University of South Florida men’s basketball team begins its postseason play as it faces the Seton Hall Pirates in the First Round of the 2013 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Championship presented by American Eagle. The 13th-seeded Bulls will face the 12th-seeded Pirates at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12 at Madison Square Garden in the first game of the 2013 tourney. Seton Hall won the earlier match-up this season, 47-55, in New Jersey (Jan. 23). The Bulls are 3-4 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament.

THE BROADCAST

The USF vs. Seton Hall game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU with Mike Patrick (play-by-play) and Len Elmore (analyst) on the call. Additionally, fans can listen to the game on 98.7 The Fan with Jim Lighthall calling the action.

The Coach

Head coach Stan Heath is in his 26th season of coaching, 12th as a head coach and sixth at USF. He has posted a 197-186 overall record and is 85-109 at USF. Heath has made four NCAA appearances (2002-Kent State, 2006 and 2007- Arkansas, 2012 - USF) and one NIT appearance in his 11-year career.

A special Season

The Bulls are coming off a special 2011-12 season that saw the team make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991-92 and pick up their first NCAA wins as they advanced to the Third Round after recording wins over California (First Round) and Temple (Second Round). USF tied the school record in wins with a 22-14 record and posted its best-ever finish in BIG EAST play with a 12-6 record for sixth place which secured a first round bye in the conference championship for the first time. Head coach Stan Heath also earned his first BIG EAST Coach of the Year award and the Bulls advanced to the BIG EAST quarterfinals for the first time in program history.

USF at cincinnati NOTES

Team

-USF shot over 40 percent from the field for the third-straight game (40.8 at Cincy; 45.8 vs. UConn; 54.4 vs. DePaul) and in 3-straight games for just the second time this season (51.9 vs. Bradley, 42.1 vs. Stetson; 47.6 vs. Georgia)

-The Bulls played in overtime for just the third time this season (3OT win over Bowling Green; OT loss at UConn)

-USF forced Cincinnati to 15 turnovers ... Cincy is the fourth-straight opponent with at least 10 turnovers

-USF was without Anthony Collins (fouls), Zach LeDay (fouls) and Martino Brock (injury) for the end of regulation and the full overtime period

-Starting lineup: Anthony Collins, Martino Brock, Victor Rudd, Zach LeDay, Toarlyn Fitzpatrick

Individual

-Victor Rudd posted his fifth-straight double-digit scoring effort with a game-high 22 points (7-of-15 FG, 4-of-10 3FG, 4-of-4 FT)

-Rudd set a season-high with four from long distance and posted his third 20+ scoring effort of the year

-Anthony Collins led the team with six assists

-Zach LeDay made his first start since Feb. 9 at Villanova and added nine points

-Kore White came off the bench for six rebounds (four offensive, two defensive)

-With his five rebounds, Toarlyn Fitzpatrick entered the USF career top-10 list with 666 ... he is now the first plyaer in program history to rank in the top 10 in 3-pt FG made and rebounds

RUDD’S LAST SEVEN

Junior Victor Rudd is once again making a late-season push as he has averaged 17.4 points and 8.4 rebounds over the last seven outings. He’s posted three of his seven double-doubles this season during that span as well, along with shooting 42.1 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from 3-point range and 81.0 percent from the FT line. He’s led the team in rebounding in six of the seven contests and in scoring in four of the seven.

MIXING IT UP

Head coach Stan Heath has gone with 15 different line-ups over the Bulls’ 30 games. The Oklahoma State game on Dec. 5 marked the first time that the Bulls used the same line-up for two-straight games. With USF losing Augustus Gilchrist, Ron Anderson Jr., and Hugh Robertson, Heath has rotated graduate transfer Kore White, freshman forward Zach LeDay and 7-3 freshman Jordan Omogbehin into the front court lineup.

SHOOTING PERCENTAGE ON THE RISE

The Bulls have shot at least 40 percent or better in the last three games marking the first time since November (vs. Bradley, Stetson and Georgia) that the Bulls have knocked down at least 40 percent of their shots in three straight games. The Bulls shot 54.4 percent against DePaul, 45.8 percent against UConn and 40.8 percent at Cincinnati. The Bulls shot 40 percent or better in seven of their BIG EAST contests, with three coming in the final three games.

CLOSE GAMES

The Bulls’ 18 BIG EAST games featured some exciting contests as nine were decided by 10 points or less, three were within five points and two went to overtime (at Connecticut and at Cincinnati).

TWO-STRAIGHT WINS

With wins over DePaul (March 3) and UConn (March 6), the Bulls won two-straight games for the first time this season since Dec 28/Jan. 2 earlier this year. Additionally, USF won back-to-back league games by double-digits for the first time since Jan. 2012 (wins over St. John’s and DePaul). As a team, the Bulls have averaged 74.0 points and shot 50.0 percent from the field and 44.1 percent from 3-point range. Individually, in these two wins the Bulls have four players averaging double figures and five shooting over 50 percent from the field (with at least 5 attempts). Here’s a look at the team stats over the last two outings:

Player Pts Rebs. FG%

Victor Rudd 16.5 7.5 39.3 (11-28)

Martino Brock 15.5 6.0 63.6 (14-22)

Toarlyn Fitzpatrick 13.5 7.0 52.6 (10-19)

Anthony Collins 10.0 4.0 50.0 (9-18)

Zach LeDay 9.5 4.0 42.9 (6-14)

BROCK STEPS UP

Junior transfer Martino Brock upped his game over the Bulls’ two wins. The guard has reached double-figures in both games, including a team-high 18 against UConn while added six rebounds in each outing. He’s also added four assists, seven steals while shooting 63.6 percent from the field (14-of-22).

REBOUNDING RUDD

During the offseason, Victor Rudd made an effort to improve his rebounding game and has done just that this season leading the team with 7.1 per game. He’s posted six double-digit rebounding efforts this season and has pulled down at least seven in 14 of the 30 games so far this year. In Rudd’s seven double-digit rebounding efforts this season, he’s also added at least 10 points for a double double.

FITZPATRICK SETS CAREER GP RECORD

At Villanova (Feb. 9) Senior Toarlyn Fitzpatrick became the USF program record holder for most games played at 124, passing Reggie Kohn (2000-03, 123 games). Fitzpatrick, who has now seen action in 131 games, also shares the single-season USF record of 36 games set during 2011-12.

FITZPATRICK LEAVING HIS MARK

Not only is senior Toarlyn Fitzpatrick the USF career games played record holder, but the Tampa native is also either in the top 10 or nearing the top 10 in the following categories. Fitz currently ranks seventh all time in career blocks (112). He jumped into the top 10 in 3-point FG made against DePaul and now has 110 on his career. Additionally with his five rebounds at Cincy he moved in to 10th all-time (666) becoming the first Bull in program history to rank in the career top 10 in both 3-point FG made and rebounds.

Total Rebounds

1. B.B. Waldon 1999-02 928

2. Hakim Shahid 1987-90 893

3. Gary Alexander 1989, 91-92 862

4. Curtis Kitchen 1983-86 816

5. Donzel Rush 1993-96 724

6. Willie Redden 1979-82 720

7. Terrence Leather 2001-05 695

8. Jim Grandholm 1982-84 678

9. Jesse Salters 1993-95 668

10. Toarlyn Fitzpatrick 2009-p 666

COLLINS CLOSING IN ON RECORDS

Sophomore Anthony Collins is also quickly making his way up the record book charts as he is now 10th all-time at USF in assists with 346 during his two-year career so far. Collins Additionally, the sophomore recently passed his own single-season mark from his freshman campaign with 185 assists this season, which ties for fifth all-time. In his first year Collins notched 161 assists over 31 games which ranks tied for eighth on the single-season list. He is the second Bull to have two seasons rank in the top 10 in program history.

USF CAREER ASSISTS

1. Reggie Kohn 2000-03 632

2. Radenko Dobras 1989-92 534

3. Chucky Atkins 1993-96 519

4. Chris Howard 2006-10 487

5. Tommy Tonelli 1983-86 480

6. Brian Swift 2002-05 389

7. Cedric Smith 1998-01 384

8. Arthur Caldwell 1985-87 368

9. Penny Greene 1975-77, 79 364

10. Anthony Collins 2011-p 346

USF Single-Season Assists

1. Reggie Kohn 2001-02 220

2. Chucky Atkins 1994-95 196

Arthur Caldwell 1986-87 196

4. Anthony Collins 2012-13 185

5. Reggie Kohn 2002-03 180

6 Tommy Tonelli 1984-85 179

7. Lewis Card 1982-83 170

8. Anthony Collins 2011-12 161

Brian Swift 2004-05 161

10. Marvin Taylor 1989-90 154

OFFENSIVE OUTBURST

After averaging 54.0 points in BIG EAST games, the Bulls took the lid off the rim against DePaul, reaching 83 points in regulation, their highest total this season (scored 86 against Bowling Green in triple OT). Additionally, USF’s 31 FGs were its most in regulation since 33 against FAMU (Dec. 11, 2011). The Bulls also set season-highs in FG percentage (54.4, 31-of-57) and 3-point FG percentage (52.9, 9-of-17) while knocking down nine from long-distance for the second-time in three games.

HEATH CLOSING IN ON 200

Bulls head coach Stan Heath is nearing his 200th career win. He currently stands at 197-185 in 12 seasons as a head coach. Heath has reached 20 wins five times and advanced to the NCAA tournament four times (2002, 2006, 2007, 2012).

[DELdaBull]

Let's beat Ston Hall!!!!

[charsibb]

Go Bulls!!

 

Pulverize the Pirates!

[ajusf16]

so I was wondering in what bracket is a 12 playing a 13, I see where we stand and it made much more sense

[Breedwell]

Wanna see Collins get 10-12 assists for the win to almost gaurantee a shot at 2nd all time in assists for a season.

[LETHALWEAPONMV]

game is available for the SFTC for those who play

[ajusf16]

sounds like we have a shot to win this game, and then get crushed in the next round

[LETHALWEAPONMV]

sounds like we have a shot to win this game, and then get crushed in the next round

we were up by 10+ vs Cuse this year. just have to be at top of game to have chance of winning