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USF claws back from 13 down only to fall late to Charlotte 77-74.
By ANTONYA ENGLISH
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 9, 2001
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- It started as a blowout but came down to a final shot at the buzzer.
After battling back from a 13-point deficit in the final two minutes, South Florida was looking at 7.9 seconds on the clock and a textbook scenario: the team's leading scorer, open behind the three-point line, with a good look at the basket.
But the shot didn't fall.
Junior forward B. B. Waldon's three-point attempt hit the back of the rim, then bounced out, and Charlotte escaped with a 77-74 win Thursday in the quarterfinals of the C-USA men's basketball tournament at Freedom Hall. "Most definitely that was the shot I was looking for," said Waldon, who had 20 of his 21 points in the second half, playing just 16 minutes. "It was one of the plays Coach (Seth) Greenberg drew up on the board for us (during a timeout). What I wanted to do was knock that down and take us to overtime and give us another chance. It went in and then it ended up rimming out. There's nothing I can do about it except go work on that shot."
It was an afternoon of fighting back from double-digit deficits for the Bulls, but none more impressive than their final run.
Trailing 73-60 with two minutes left, the Bulls forced Charlotte into three consecutive turnovers and scored eight points, pulling within five at 1:30.
After missing the second of two free throws with 1:16 left, Jackson hit a three-pointer with 59 seconds left, pulling South Florida within 73-72. With a 75-72 lead on Rodney White's tip-in, Charlotte missed 2 of 4 free throws in the final 14 seconds.
Two free throws by Reggie Kohn (13 points, five assists) made it 76-74, then Jobey Thomas (20 points) hit the second of two free-throw attempts with seven seconds left, giving the Bulls the ball and a final shot.
"It's a play here, a play there, a no-call here, a no-call there," Greenberg said. "Despite it all, the 14-1 (deficit) at the start, we had a chance. And that's a credit to these kids and their willingness to compete. The great thing is that this team didn't quit."
Waldon's miss was the only thing he didn't do in the second half. During a six-minute second-half span, Waldon had 17 consecutive points -- the only Bull to score in that period. He played just four minutes in the first half after picking up his second foul with 16:18 left.
Charlotte (19-10) led South Florida 14-1 with 14:09 remaining in the first half, but the Bulls battled back to twice pull within four and once within three. The Bulls trailed 38-28 at halftime.
USF shot 37 percent from the field and 26 percent from three-point range. Jackson, who scored 20 on Wednesday, had just six against Charlotte and had three assists and four rebounds.
South Florida (18-13) never has advanced past the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament. Despite a season touted early as potentially one of its best, South Florida will not be invited to the NCAA Tournament.
"It's disappointing, but it's not cancer," Greenberg said. "It's not life or death. If they didn't care and they didn't try, it would be a lot more disappointing. We grew a little bit. We didn't reach our goal, but we also did a lot of good things."