USF's Road Woes Continue: Bulls Suffer 71-62 Loss to Rutgers

The University of South Florida's basketball team, already struggling on the road, suffered a crucial 71-62 loss to Rutgers on Thursday night. The Bulls, sitting last in the Big East in scoring, couldn't afford to give away any points, especially in the final minutes. A botched dunk by Jawanza Poland with 4:27 remaining seemed to sap some momentum from the Bulls, ultimately leading to their eighth loss in their last nine games on the road.

Key Takeaways:

• The University of South Florida's basketball team suffered a 71-62 loss to Rutgers, extending their road woes to 0-8.
• The Bulls lost for the eighth time in their last nine games, with the latest defeat coming against Rutgers on Thursday night.
• Jawanza Poland's botched dunk with 4:27 remaining seemed to sap some momentum from the Bulls, as Rutgers scored on the next possession to take a 59-50 lead.
• The Bulls allowed Rutgers to shoot 55.6 percent from the field in the second half, including 6-for-10 from the arc.
• USF coach Stan Heath criticized the team's performance, stating that they allowed Rutgers to make "a lot of hustle plays, loose balls and just being aggressive" on the defensive end.
• James Beatty led the Rutgers Knights with 20 points, with 18 of those coming in the final 20 minutes of the game.
• Augustus Gilchrist and Hugh Robertson each had 14 points for the Bulls, who next play at West Virginia on Sunday.

Statistics:

• The Bulls' road record now stands at 0-8.
• The team has lost eight of their last nine games.
• Rutgers shot 55.6 percent from the field in the second half.
• The Knights made 6-for-10 three-pointers in the second half.
• USF's Jawanza Poland had a crucial breakaway dunk miss with 4:27 remaining.

Sources:

• Friday January 21, 2011 Section SPORTS Page 1
• THE TAMPA TRIBUNE (Copyright 2011, The Tampa Tribune and may not be republished without permission. E-mail library@tampatrib.com)