Coach Robert McCullum goes to a zone to ignite an 18-1 spurt for a 66-61 win over New Orleans.
By PETE YOUNG
Published December 31, 2003
TAMPA - If ever there was an ideal occasion for an 18-1 run, if ever a team needed such a scoring spree, it was South Florida with just less than nine minutes to go Tuesday night.
But how could the Bulls do it? They trailed New Orleans by 14 in the championship game of the USF Holiday Classic, looked uninspired and appeared destined to not win their holiday tournament for the first time since it was reinstituted four years ago.
So coach Robert McCullum, a devout practitioner of man-to-man defense, reached deep into his defensive repertoire and pulled out a ... 3-2 zone.
It worked.
The Bulls ripped off the 18-1 spurt, blew past the Privateers and held on to win 66-61 before 2,808 at the Sun Dome.
"We certainly have a way of making them interesting," McCullum said. "I'm extremely proud of our guys. It was a hard-fought effort."
The effort suddenly picked up late in the game when UNO (6-4) began to get frustrated by the zone.
"We certainly don't play much zone and still probably won't," McCullum said. "I'd have to think long and hard to remember the last time we worked on it.
"I thought it clearly caught UNO off guard. They would have to search long and hard to find any tape of us playing zone."
A three-point play by Brandon Brigman (nine points, eight rebounds) ignited the rally from 56-42 down with 8:50 to go, and a 3-pointer by Brian Swift with 3:45 remaining put the Bulls up 58-57.
"I had to hit that. It was a big shot," said Swift, a junior point guard who was coming off a subpar game. "If you have a bad game, you have to bounce back.
"I knew Coach would come up with something that would work (on defense). I don't know what it is about us. Sometimes we have to get down to pick up our intensity."
With the Bulls clinging to a 64-61 lead, UNO's Johnell Smith (17 points) appeared to get a good stroke on a 3-pointer from the corner with eight seconds left and Swift guarding him.
"I had my hand in his face. I was like, "Please don't hit this,"' Swift said. "It looked like it was on line, but it caught the back of the rim."
Smith finished 0-for-7 on 3-pointers. USF's Gerrick Morris was fouled going for the rebound and made both free throws to clinch it.
The Bulls were playing on consecutive days for the first time this season. The ultra-efficient USF offense from Monday night, which made 32 of 52 field goals (a season-high 61.5 percent) while consistently dicing the South Alabama pressure for high-quality shots, was absent early.
The Bulls had only nine points at the third media timeout more than 12 minutes into the game, and they trailed 27-15 at the final timeout of the half with 3:31 left.
USF embarked on a 12-2 run to close the half, cutting it to 29-27 at intermission on Jimmy Baxter's acrobatic fastbreak layup while getting fouled. Baxter, a senior from St. Petersburg, didn't start for the second consecutive game after starting 36 of the previous 38.
The Bulls lost the momentum as soon as the second half started, getting outscored 10-2 to fall behind by double figures. But then came the late rally as USF improved to 25-5 all-time in the Holiday Classic.
New Orleans had rallied from 17 points down in its other game vs. a Conference USA team this season, Dec. 3 at Tulane. The Privateers beat the Green Wave 69-66 on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Former Largo High star Billy McDade played two minutes for New Orleans and did not score. The sophomore, who missed UNO's first three games due to academic reasons, didn't play in Monday's win vs. Texas-Arlington.
USF improved to 3-1 in its five-game homestand and has 10 days off until opening the conference season Jan. 10 vs. Louisville.
"Jan. 10, that's the start of a new season," USF forward Terrence Leather said.
In the earlier consolation game, Richard Law scored a career-high 21 and grabbed six rebounds to lead South Alabama past Texas-Arlington 56-52.
