A 54-51 loss to TCU, USF's third close call in a row, keeps Bulls on course to become first to go winless in C-USA.
By PETE YOUNG
Published February 10, 2004
TAMPA - South Florida's vain attempts at claiming a Conference USA win beg the question: Is it better to get blasted and have no chance at winning, or to come agonizingly close again and again?
The answer, of course, is both options stink. And whichever one just happened stinks worse.
USF's third straight narrow defeat, 54-51 to TCU on Monday at the Sun Dome - Terrence Leather's off-balance 3-pointer bounced off the rim at the buzzer - had the Bulls lamenting a string of near misses.
"You work so hard to give yourself a chance to win. To keep falling short, it really hurts," point guard Brian Swift said. "It's much harder losing by two or three points."
"Of course (close losses are harder)," coach Robert McCullum said. "We were in position. We gave ourselves a chance. They've heard a similar postgame speech the past three games.
"Aside from (a slow start) and just not shooting better overall (39.1 percent), that's probably about as well as we can play, especially defensively. I'm extremely proud of our guys. They did everything we asked them to do to give us a chance to win."
USF fell to 0-8 in C-USA, halfway to ignominy: No team since the league's inception in 1995-96 has gone winless.
The Bulls also equaled their worst start in C-USA. The 1995-96 team didn't win until its ninth league game. USF can break that mark Wednesday at 13th-ranked Cincinnati.
USF was routed by an average of 25.4 points in its first five league losses, but the Bulls have dropped the past three by a combined 10 points to East Carolina, Tulane and TCU.
On the final sequence Monday, a poor judgment by the normally heady Swift proved costly. TCU led by three and had the ball with 47 seconds to go. USF elected not to foul, TCU ran the shot clock all the way down and missed, and USF rebounded.
Swift darted upcourt, as instructed by McCullum during the previous timeout. When he was trapped just across midcourt, however, instead of calling timeout with a few seconds to go he threw a dangerous crosscourt pass to Leather (team-high 20 points, nine rebounds), who had to outfight a defender before taking the desperation shot.
"I didn't realize that we had another timeout," Swift said. "It was my mistake."
Stout USF defense spurred a stirring late rally before an announced 2,809, which appeared closer to 1,000. TCU was held scoreless for about 51/2 minutes as USF sliced a 50-41 deficit to 50-49 with 3:32 to go on two Bradley Mosley free throws.
"We just told ourselves we had to get stops, and we did," Swift said.
The Bulls never took the lead, however. USF (6-13) has not won in 2004 and has dropped 13 of 16. TCU improved to 9-11, 5-4.
Several statistical trends continued for USF, which is playing with only six scholarship players:
Swift made 3 of 5 3-pointers and has made 14 of 25 in his past three games.
Mosley played 40 minutes for the fifth time in six games and made 3 of 14 shots. He is shooting 28.8 percent (30-for-104) in C-USA games.
Gerrick Morris blocked nine shots, fourth best in school history. He has 20 in the past three games.
"There's been a difference about him," McCullum said.
"He puts something in the other team's mind," Swift said. "They really don't want to come down in there."
With the exception of Saturday at Tulane, USF has been getting off to terrible starts in league play. Monday the Bulls trailed 11-2, and they were outscored 11-2 at the start of the second half to fall behind 43-29.
"It's become customary," McCullum said. "I wish I knew (why). I'm searching for answers."
TCU junior guard Corey Santee led all scorers with 25, including a driving layup that put the Horned Frogs up 54-49 with two minutes to go. Two free throws by USF's Brian Graham cut the lead to three and set up the final sequence.
