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| Victoria Arocho/AP |
Published: Saturday, December 6, 2003
Updated: Sunday, January 31, 2010 12:01
"One thing we emphasized [going into the game] was putting two halves together," said Head Coach Tim Welsh. "I thought in the Hofstra game, we played a very good second half, in the Alabama game, we played a very good first half. Tonight we wanted to put a complete game together, and I think we did."
All five starters finished the game in double figures for Providence, led by senior guard Sheiku Kabba, who registered 18 points. Junior forward Rob Sanders was not far behind, recording 17 points, including connecting on all three of his three point attempts. Classmate Ryan Gomes added 13 for PC, while sophomore Donnie McGrath and senior center Marcus Douthit scored 10 apiece.
After falling behind 8-5 early in the game, the Friars, ignited by a jumper by Kabba, went on an 18-3 run to take a 12-point lead over South Florida with seven minutes remaining in the first half. Kabba scored eight points during the run, and was joined by junior forward Tuukka Kotti who added four points and an assist. Providence built on that lead, taking its largest advantage thus far into the locker room at halftime, ahead 39-21.
The Friars' strong play carried over into the second half, with PC building on the 18-point halftime lead and increasing it to as many as 24 with just under a minute to play.
Providence was aggressive on defense, playing a tight 2-3 zone the entire 40 minutes. The Bulls were held to just eight field goals in the first half, and were able to manage just 24 points in the paint on the evening. Defense led to offense for the Friars, with 19 South Florida turnovers resulting in 20 points on the PC side of the scoreboard.
"Like Coach said, it always starts with defense," said Douthit. "When we get a good effort from the team on defense, offense with come. As long as we stop them from scoring, offense will come."
Providence's patience on offense and its ability to beat USF's man-to-man defense led to 21 assists and also 36 points in the paint for the Friars. Providence shot 50 percent from the floor on the evening, and connected on nine three-pointers, two above their average so far this season. Welsh's squad shot a solid 85 percent from the free-throw line, connecting on 17of 20 attempts.
The Friars were able to hold their own under the boards and out-rebounded the Bulls 32-26. Kotti, Gomes, and Sanders all registered five apiece.
"We talked about the game plan tonight," said Welsh. "South Florida is a team that pounds the boards; they really like to fast break, and those are two things I thought we limited them pretty well with. We out rebounded them, we limited their fast break points pretty much-they got some in the second half, when we started turning the ball over a little bit."
Bradley Mosley led the way for South Florida with 18 points. Marlyn Bryant (Leesburg High School, Leesburg Florida) added 12, and Brian Swift and Terrence Leather scored 11 and 10 points respectively.
The Friars return to action on Saturday when they travel to Kingston, RI to take on the University of Rhode Island. PC will be looking not only for its fourth straight win, and also to avenge a 73-71 loss suffered at the hands of the Rams last season.
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