College basketball

Lack of intensity on D stretches funk to 10

DePAUL 80, USF 66: Winless in league play, the Bulls are dangerously close to an all-time streak.

By GREG AUMAN
Published February 4, 2006

TAMPA - The last time USF lost 10 games in a row in a season, it wasn't the Bulls' first year in the Big East. It was the Big East's first season, back in 1980.

Another night, another frustrating disappointment, another loss, and this time the Bulls didn't even have the consolation of playing their opponent close.

DePaul, coming in with a six-game losing streak and a 1-7 mark in league play, went into and out of halftime with a combined 13-0 run, leading by as many as 20 and pulling out an easy 80-66 victory before a crowd of 2,474 at the Sun Dome.

"I wish I knew why, but we lacked the defensive intensity we've come to expect," said coach Robert McCullum, whose Bulls (6-15, 0-8) committed a season-low eight turnovers but allowed the Blue Demons (9-11, 2-7) to shoot 57.7 percent. "We merely traded baskets with them for most of the first half."

Down 32-30 with 1:08 left, the Bulls saw DePaul end the half with a six-point run, including a layup at the buzzer by Jabari Currie after no whistle on what looked to be a charge drawn by USF's Chris Capko. By the time USF scored its next points, the Blue Demons had a 45-30 lead and the game was all but over.

"It was a big sequence. ... We go from down two to down eight," said McCullum, whose team is two losses shy of the school's all-time losing streak, set in the 1979-80 season. "And then the start of the second half was probably the worst we've opened the second half all year."

Facing the league's worst 3-point defense, the Bulls hit nine 3s, including six by junior Melvin Buckley, who had a game-high 22 points. But USF never put a string of shots together; only twice did they score consecutive baskets.

Senior guard James Holmes scored 19 for the Bulls but on 6-of-20 shooting, and center Solomon Jones had his ninth double double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.

That still wasn't enough to keep up with DePaul, which had only one player not hitting at least half his shots. Guard Sammy Mejia had 16 of his 21 in the first half, and forwards Karron Clarke and Wilson Chandler went for 16 and 15, consistently finding openings for easy dunks and lay-ins.

The grind of the Bulls' first season in the Big East, with a roster pared by injuries and departures to just a seven-player rotation, is taking its toll, said Buckley, who slipped and injured his left knee in the final minute.

"You have to realize what a hurting it puts on your body, and you have to turn right around and have a DePaul or St. John's two days later. You've got 5-6 players just went 40 minutes last night," he said, referring to the Bulls' loss at Cincinnati on Tuesday. "But we're in no position to make excuses. We just didn't get it done."

DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright had sympathy for McCullum, saying few programs are playing more shorthanded. USF used seven players Friday and saw its bench outscored 21-2.

"These are tough times when you're undermanned," he said. "There's never a night off. People, like I am, feel bad, but nobody is going to feel sorry. Until you get a full complement of players ... this is an unforgiving league."

[Last modified February 4, 2006, 00:32:20]