[Rosiak's Blog] Game 23: South Florida

[ToddRosiakSays]

Game 23: South Florida


Feb. 5, 2009 9:06 p.m.  




Tampa, Fla. -- Ask Jerel McNeal about his memories of the Sun Dome, and he just laughs.

How could he not? It was his steal and basket at the buzzer that helped the Marquette Golden Eagles beat the South Florida Bulls, 70-68, two seasons ago to help keep alive what ultimately wound up being an eight-game winning streak.

"Escaping," he said when asked what he remembered most about the game. "It was a hard-fought game. It’s a real tough place to play, and they had a lot of good players then. I think they’ve got some really good players now. I remember just getting out of there with a win – being in a real close game and we had to grind it out and come up with some big plays down the stretch just to pull it out."

McNeal's big play came with South Florida inbounding the ball near mid-court in the closing seconds and looking for the upset of 15th-ranked MU. But a deft switch on a pick allowed McNeal to swipe the ball, head the other way and knock down a short bank shot at the buzzer.

Some felt McNeal should have been called for a charge, as Bulls guard Chris Howard was able to get back and get into position to try and take it. But not surprisingly, the officials let the basket stand, and the Golden Eagles escaped with a hard-fought victory over a Bulls team that was primed for an upset.

"It’s right up there with some of the best," said McNeal when asked where that victory ranked for him during his time at MU. "We’ve been in a ton of close games. Pittsburgh, freshman year when Dominic hits a running three-pointer to send it into overtime. Stanford. But it definitely ranks up there among the most unique of all of them, just because of the way the game ended.

"We’ve been through so many of those types of games that it’s hard to rank them, but that’s definitely got to be one of the biggest ones just considering what was at stake. It was a situation where we were on like an (eight-game) winning streak, we were playing really well and we had a little bit of a letdown there. It was unbelievable the way the game ended, and the way we just kept playing and pulled the win out in the end.

In the midst of a 12-game winning streak, third-longest in the nation, eighth-ranked MU (20-2, 9-0) could face a similar situation on Friday night at the Sun Dome: a downtrodden South Florida team with just two victories in the Big East looking to spring the upset on a high-profile opponent.

The Bulls (7-14, 2-7) have done it on their home court before. They knocked off Syracuse last year, and who could forget their upset of Georgetown on the final day of the regular season back in 2005-'06, a victory that led to MU earning a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament the following week.

South Florida has talent.

Sophomore guard Dominique Jones ranks sixth in the Big East in scoring at 18.3 points per game, and like McNeal brings more to the table than just offense with 38 three-pointers, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

The Bulls also have another big body down low in freshman Gus Gilchrist, who's averaging 10.5 and a team-high 4.8 rebounds per game.

"I think they’re similar (to last year)," said McNeal. "Gilchrist is a good player along with Dominique Jones. He’s gotten a lot better just over the course of a year. And their point guard, Howard, is pretty good and he’s becoming a lot more mature. They’ve got somewhat the same makeup and I think they have really good players down there, and I’m sure it’s going to be another tough game for us to get.

"We’ve got to come out with our mind set and our focus and everything right and we’ll try to steal another one down there."

South Florida is shooting the ball horribly as a team: 40.9% from the floor and 58.7% from the free-throw line. The Bulls are also being out-rebounded by opponents, and have committed 35 more turnovers than they have assists.

Even still, MU will bring the same mind set its had all season, which has helped it go 5-0 in true road games. The Golden Eagles are one of only six teams in the nation to have gone undefeated on opponents' home courts, joining Utah State (9-0), Connecticut (7-0), Michigan (6-0), Xavier (6-0) and Louisville (4-0).

"Dominique Jones scored 1,000 points last week, and he’s played three semesters of college basketball. He’s on pace to break Pistol Pete’s record," said coach Buzz Williams. "We’ll have mismatch problems again with Gus Gilchrist. I think Dominique Jones is a really good player. (Jesus) Verdejo has continued to improve.

"It’s different, because we just played a mirror opponent, and there wasn’t anything that we were going to tell our guys that they weren’t prepared for with DePaul. I think that’s part of the reason why we’re leaving tonight – because over the next 40 hours we’ve got as much mental work to do as physical work.

Oh, and about that great Tampa weather? Try 50s on Thursday and mid-60s on Friday.

"Is it supposed to be nice?" Williams asked on Wednesday night, prior to the team leaving Milwaukee. "We’ll be inside working in the gym. So when we go from the bus to the gym, we’ll appreciate it."

McNeal, by the way, needs just five points to move past Butch Lee into second place on the all-time scoring list at MU.

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http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/39179627.html

[rocky_warrior]

"Dominique Jones scored 1,000 points last week"

Wow, that's....like....500 ppg.