The Bulls had a bad week.
After an energetic and competitive game against No. 7 Syracuse where USF (9-6) would ultimately fall short, the Bulls came out looking sloppy on Wednesday night against the Villanova Wildcats losing 61-53 and dropping to 0-2 in Big East play.
Next the Bulls visited No. 3 Louisville (15-1, 3-0). USF hoped for a repeat of last season game, a 58-51 win against the Cardinals last year. Coach Stan Heath called the game “a wakeup call” game. The Bulls lost 64-38.
Senior Jawanza Poland and junior Victor Rudd found themselves on the bench for the start of the game, due to what Heath called a “lack of effort and focus”. By the time the two upperclassmen entered the game, with 8:50 left in the first half, Louisville led 25-8.
USF held Louisville to 38 percent shooting. However, that was not enough to overcome being outrebounded 49-24.
Rebounding has been the issue for the Bulls as they begin Big East play. In the losses to Syracuse, Villanova and Louisville, USF has been outrebounded 134-82 in total. Fifty-seven of opponent rebounds have been offensive rebounds.
A 0-3 start in conference play is alarming, but Rudd insists the team “still has a chance to grind it” and find a way into NCAA tournament play. With a schedule that does not get any easier, USF will have to grind it out if they hope to return to the Big Dance.
The USF women’s basketball team, after starting the season off with an impressive 11-2 non-conference record, echoed their male counterpart’s struggles last week as they fell 75-71 to No. 2 Notre Dame and 91-75 to DePaul.
USF looked nervous in the first half, but the squad was able to capitalize on the rare mistakes of a highly touted Irish team and build a 35-32 lead going into halftime.
After putting up such a tremendous fight against the No. 2 team in the country, USF felt positive going into Saturday night’s matchup against DePaul (13-4, 2-1) on the road.
Andrea Smith, who is having a standout season for the Bulls, was the silver lining against the Blue Devils. She set a career high in points that included an incredible 19 straight scored for USF in a three minute span.
A 0-2 record to begin Big East play is certainly not good enough for both the team and their head coach Jose Fernandez. His cautious approach to conference play will have to become bolder as the stakes become higher, and USF will have to make the most of every opportunity for a Big East win.
The consistent offensive play will continue to help the Bulls down the stretch, but it is crucial that the team fix its persistent issues on defense if it hopes to obtain a NCAA tournament berth.
Samantha Ouimette is the sports editor of The Crow’s Nest. She can be reached at sports@crowsneststpete.com.
