USF Bulls Eye First-Round Bye in Big East Tournament with Win Over DePaul

The USF Bulls escaped Chicago with a win 63-59 over a bad DePaul team. This wasn’t one of the best performances out of South Florida, but it was history-making.

The Bulls are close receiving their first ever bye in the Big East tournament, as they got themselves to 8-9 in conference play this season and won a 18th game on the season.

Neither team looked all that impressive throughout the game, with both shooting around 36 percent from the field. They were even worse from behind the arc with the Bulls shooting 22 percent and the Blue Demons shooting 14 percent.

DePaul controlled the first half and took a 27-22 lead into the half. USF’s 11 turnovers in the game were a large reason for the lead, along with the Bulls settling for jump shots rather than driving the lane.

The second half was a different story as DePaul was outscored 41-32. The scoreboard wasn’t the only place the Bulls made their presence known, however; USF held a 41-26 rebound lead, including 14 offensive rebounds over DePaul’s seven.

Jarrid Famous and Mike Mercer controlled the boards for the Bulls. Famous finished with nine on the night and Mercer added eight.

Augustus Gilchrist continues to find his way after missing most of the season. His 11 points and six rebounds came mostly in the second half, but he’s still nowhere close to where he was back in December.

Dominique Jones had another horrible night shooting, but still finished with 20 points and seven rebounds. It shows you how special a player he is; in going 4-17 from the field, he still has a team high in points.

The Bulls didn’t have an answer for Mac Koshwall who had a game high 24 points and 11 rebounds. This was his 10th on the season, and was another dominating performance by the Blue Demon star.

Koshwall didn’t get much help from his supporting cast; Will Walker, who had 16 points was the only other DePaul player in double figures. The missed free throws down the stretch doomed any chance for an upset. DePaul has only one conference win on the season—a 51-50 win over Marquette.

USF (18-11) turns its attention towards Connecticut (17-12) and the showdown on Saturday. The Bulls get to play bubble poppers for the Huskies, who find themselves desperately needing a win after the loss to Louisville last weekend.

If the Big East tournament started today, USF would get another rematch with DePaul, something they probably don’t want after watching the game tonight. USF needs to continually prove themselves to their Big East brethren, and struggling with the conference bottom-feeder doesn’t help get them any respect.

Knocking off a surging Connecticut team not only gets them some of that conference respect, but also gives them plenty of confidence and momentum going into the conference tournament.