Ed Cooley got a T late in the game. How did the ref not shit his pants afterwards?
Friars.com: Men’s Basketball Falls To South Florida, 55-48
Only one Friar scored in double digits as junior guard Vincent Council (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had 16 points in the game. The Bulls held Providence’s second leading scorer, sophomore Bryce Cotton (Tucson, Ariz.), to six points. Overall the Friars shot 30.8 percent from the field, 8.3 percent from behind the arc and 78.9 percent from the free throw line.
GoLocalProv: Disaster strikes again, Friars bulldozed 55-48
How much misfortune can a team be forced to endure, without having the basketball gods send at least one positive result their way?
Plenty – if you’re the 2012 Providence Friars. For the third straight game, PC found itself with a late second half lead…and for the third straight game, the opponent found a way to win. This time, the culprits came from South Florida, as the Bulls outscored the Friars 14-2 over the final 2:30 to win 55-48 at the Dunkin Donuts Center Saturday.
Woonsocket Call: Basketball gods not kind to PC again
With Vincent Council checking him, Noriega swished home a trey from the corner opposite the Bulls bench, one that made it a one-point white-knuckle affair at 2:20. An offensive foul by Kadeem Batts took away a hoop by Council and gave the Bulls another crack at running something with the intent of freeing Noriega.
Running off of what the USF hero-of-the-game dubbed “a triple screen,” Noriega banged home a three with 1:40 remaining, putting the visitors up at 48-47. Two attempts, two makes in exactly 60 seconds of floor time. Certainly it’s not bad work if you can get it, but as Noriega noted afterwards, he knows why Heath deploys him in certain situations as opposed to others.
Friar Basketball: Late Surge Pushes USF to Victory
Providence struggled through their ugliest offensive night since a 40 point performance against Georgetown in early January, and the closing minutes were not much better. Their only field goal of the final four minutes came when LaDontae Henton squeezed home a shot at the rim with 1:19 left, but USF closed by doing what PC could not six days prior against West Virginia – hitting all eight of their free throw attempts in the game’s final minute as they ripped off a 14-2 run over the game’s final two and half minutes for the victory.
It was a sluggish effort from the start for Cooley’s group, a team that must be discouraged after conceding leads of 15 and 19 points in their two losses prior to this one.
Tout.com: Shaun Noriega gets a BIG celebration postgame in the locker room
Tampa Bay Times: USF Bulls rally to beat Providence Friars for second time, 55-48
The Bulls, who led 24-21 at halftime, also did a better job with their man-to-man defense against Providence than has been the case in the past. They held the Friars to 30 percent shooting and limited freshman forward Henton to seven points after he scored a career-high 33 on Jan. 29 in USF’s 81-78 win.
“We knew we had to take away their transition,” Heath said. “We did a much better job in the second half. I think it took some of their guys who can really score and didn’t allow them to get in a rhythm that they’ve gotten into before.
“I don’t know how those guys feel, but I’m exhausted,” he added, with a laugh. “The guys did a fantastic job, and there are a lot of heroes in that locker room.”
Tampa Bay Online: Noriega makes most of his shot(s)
“I definitely knew my time was going to come,” Noriega said. “We needed some shots at the end, and my coaches and teammates have faith in me.”
Noriega hadn’t played in four of USF’s previous six games, and the 12 total minutes he earned on Jan. 24 against Marquette and Feb. 4 against Georgetown came in contests that the Bulls lost by a combined 50 points. The junior guard had gone from starter to afterthought before sealing a season sweep of the Friars, a stint that Heath had in mind when he addressed the team a day earlier.
“You never know when your turn is going to come,” Heath said. “He perked up and had a pretty good practice (Friday).”
