Colleges

Adjustment sparks Bulls breakthrough

USF pulls away to win its Big East opener for the first time.

By IZZY GOULD
Published January 3, 2008

Kentrell Gransberry, who had 20 points and 17 rebounds, drives past Rutgers' Hamady N'Diaye to the basket in the first half.
	[Brian Cassella | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Brian Cassella | Times] Dominique Jones, who led USF with 24 points, goes up against Jaron Griffen for an attempted layup in the first half.

TAMPA - USF found its breakaway point midway through the second half of a 68-45 win over Rutgers to open Big East play Wednesday.

The Scarlet Knights had battled through the loss of top assists guy and No.2 scorer Corey Chandler, out with a stress fracture in his foot. There was foul trouble for center Hamady N'Diaye, and leading scorer JR Inman had yet to find his touch.

Rutgers still was within four points thanks to a zone defense that caught USF off guard.

Bulls coach Stan Heath gathered his players and warned them possessions were at a premium. USF 10-4 would have to grind out a win.

Freshman Orane Chin sparked a second-half run when he soared in for a follow-up dunk on a missed layup by Kentrell Gransberry, waking up the 3,657 fans in the Sun Dome.

Rutgers (8-6) switched to man defense, and USF pushed and got an open-look 3-pointer from guard Jesus Verdejo followed by a Gransberry layup to push the lead to 51-41.

The Bulls outscored Rutgers 24-5 in the final 8:58 to win its first Big East opener in three tries. USF is 5-28 in Big East games and has won three in a row and 10 of 11 overall. Next up is a trip to Syracuse on Saturday.

"Once we found something that worked we stuck with it," Heath said. Dominique Jones "got on a nice little roll and hit a couple of 3s. While we went on a scoring run our defense got better."

Rutgers was awarded two free throws before the opening tip after Gransberry dunked during pregame warmups, which is prohibited. Gransberry told Heath he didn't know the referees were on the court. Rutgers forward Jaron Griffin missed both free throws, and the Scarlet Knights finished 1-for-8 from the line.

Gransberry made up for what the senior called "a freshman mistake" with 20 points and a season-high 17 rebounds.

"Grans was a monster inside, just dominating the glass," Heath said. "We came into the game concerned because (of the size of their front line). We worried about how to keep them off the glass. When you look at the numbers and how we were able to do that, that was very impressive."

The Bulls outrebounded Rutgers 39-31 and limited them to eight offensive rebounds and four second-chance baskets.

USF got plenty of help on the perimeter from freshman guard Jones, who scored 24 and went 5-for-5 from 3-point range.

"I was feeling it," Jones said. I was getting good looks and I was into the game. The rim just seemed a lot bigger to me."

Bulls forward Amu Saaka left the game in the first half after N'Diaye swung his arm while falling back, breaking Saaka's nose and giving him a mild concussion, Heath said. He returned in the second half with a face guard but threw it toward the bench after returning. He is expected to be available against Syracuse.

"We've had games like this where things seem to click for us," Heath said. "We might have three to five minutes where we have a roll. (Jones) did a nice job of igniting that fire in the second half."

Izzy Gould can be reached at izzygould@gmail.com or (727) 580-5315.

USF 68

Rutgers 45

[Last modified January 3, 2008, 01:03:39]