USF-Marq: Bulls Find Positives In Loss to Golden Eagles

The South Florida Bulls lost its second consecutive Big East game after going on a four game win streak. Marquette was just too much for the Bulls as they fell 63-52 to the Golden Eagles.

Even in the loss the Bulls can find some positives. Augustus Gilchrist returned to action and saw limited time during his seven point, four rebound performance. This is his first action since December 13th.

In his absence, Dominique Jones has emerged as the team's leader, averaging 21 points a game. That total is third best amongst Big East players this season. Gilchrist was averaging 19 points and 10 rebounds a game before going down with an ankle injury. “Big Gus” was the team’s leader on both ends of the court before the injury and if the Bulls make the NCAA Tournament I expect him to regain that role.

The other bit of good news reaching the Bulls way was found in one of the latest mock brackets seeding the Bulls as the No. 12 seed in the South Bracket. This has the Bulls paired up against Tennessee, in what will be an extremely difficult game for the Bulls to win. The fact the Bulls are mentioned in NCAA Tournament talk is huge considering no one had USF going to the Big Dance back in November.

USF (15-8) still has some work to finish before they can breathe easy about getting a tournament invite. The schedule is very manageable, but the Bulls need to pick up a few more wins. They still have a big game at Villanova, and finish up conference play with Connecticut. If the Bulls can get 19 wins it's safe to say they’re in, anything less than that will be hard to justify selecting them.

Augustus Gilchrist is still shaking off the rust, but being reunited with Jones will help cure that quickly. When Cincinnati (15-9) comes calling on Tuesday, expect more out of the big man. His presence in the post should be too much for the Bearcats, opening up the perimeter for Jones’s shooting and slashing.