College basketball

Tonight: USF vs. Rutgers

By GREG AUMAN
Published February 18, 2006

WHEN/WHERE: 7; Sun Dome, Tampa.

TV/RADIO: Ch. 28; 620-AM. RECORDS: Rutgers 14-11, 4-8 Big East; USF 6-18, 0-11.

COACHES: Rutgers - Gary Waters (74-72, fifth season; 166-132 overall); USF - Robert McCullum (27-54, third season; 71-99).

NOTABLE: Right now, both teams would miss the Big East Tournament, with Rutgers in 13th and losing a tiebreaker to St. John's. ... The two will play twice in nine days, with the Bulls traveling to New Jersey for a game Feb. 26. ... USF's loss at Notre Dame was a school-record 13th in a row, a streak that matches Howard for the longest in the nation. Howard, incidentally, today hosts Bethune-Cookman, the school that started USF's skid in December. ... Rutgers has the Big East's leading scorer in 6-foot-3 junior guard Quincy Douby, averaging 24.3 points as the only Knights player in double figures. ... Three of Rutgers' four league wins have come against new teams from Conference USA, with victories against DePaul, Marquette and Louisville. ... Eight of USF's 12 league losses have been by seven points or fewer, and the missing ingredient for the Bulls might be getting their two perimeter scorers, senior James Holmes and junior Melvin Buckley, to shoot well on the same night. Holmes went for 18 against Notre Dame but Buckley went 2-of-13; in the Bulls' last home game against Seton Hall, Buckley scored 26 but Holmes went 1-of-11. ... A loss tonight would mathematically eliminate the Bulls from the conference tournament, where only the league's top 12 teams compete.

[Last modified February 18, 2006, 02:15:16]