Dominique Jones is good at basketball.
UConn at USF : Saturday March 6th 2pm ET
TV:WCTX, SNY
The Huskies will try to close the regular season on a high note, when they visit the scrappy South Florida Bulls on Saturday. USF comes into this one at 18-11 overall and 8-9 in the Big East. The Highlight of their season came in late January and early February, when they won four consecutive Big East games, including back to back wins over ranked opponents Pittsburgh and Georgetown. They’ve really only had two bad losses this season…a December 13th loss to Central Michigan and a recent 74-58 home loss to St. John’s.
The Bulls are lead by 6’4″ junior guard Dominique Jones, who’s been absolutely sensational this season. He’s 2nd in the Big East in scoring with 21.4 points per game and he’s averaging 6.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists. He’s scored in double figures in all but one game, he’s gone over 20 points 17 times, over 30 three times, and over 40 once…a 46 point performance in a 109-105 overtime win at Providence. Kid gets my vote for league MVP.
USF has three other players averaging in double figures and another averaging 9.4. For a team with a superstar scorer like Jones, they still spread the offense around pretty well.
6’10″ F/C Augustus Gilchrist is having an excellent sophomore campaign, averaging 14.7 points and 6.4 boards. He’s shooting .527 from the field, .766 from the stripe, and get this, .524 from deep (11-21). Versatile.
The next name will be familiar to Husky die-hards, JUCO transfer Jarrid Famous, who’s averaging 10.8 points and 7.6 rebounds in his first season in the Big East. The Huskies and Famous had some serious overtures during Famous’ recruiting period.
Senior Guards Chris Howard and Mike Mercer round up the top five scorers, with 10.6 and 9.4 points respectively. Neither are particularly sharp from beyond the arc, but both have proven on any given the night that they are capable of having a big game. Mercer is averaging 13.4 over the past 5 games.
Conference Rank Comparisons
Scoring Offense
CONN 71.3 (10th)
USF 68.5 (12th)
Scoring Defense
CONN 66.5 (9th)
USF 66.6 (10th)
Free Throw %
CONN .698 (6th)
USF .685 (9th)
FG %
CONN .451 (6th)
USF .445 (10th)
FG % Defense
CONN .386 (1st)
USF .430 (11th)
3 Pt FG %
CONN .325 (12th)
USF .288 (16th)
Rebounding Margin
CONN +3.8 (6th)
USF +1.2 (12th)
Turnover Margin
USF -0.83 (11th)
CONN -2.40 (Pathetic)
The Huskies still have a shot to go dancing, but a loss on Saturday would all but negate the possibility of an at large bid. With a win USF can get back to .500 in the Big East, which would be a huge accomplishment for the upstart program. This will not be easy, USF is 10-4 at home, and still have their sites on a tourney berth themselves. Should be an entertaining game…gotta have it. Let’s get it.
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