SOUTH FLORDA FALLS AT HOME TO WVU

March 2, 2009


West Virginia seems to have all but assured themselves of an NCAA Tournament bid and they rebounded from their previous loss to Cincinnati by taking care of business on the road in a 64-50 win at South Florida on Sunday.

The win pushes WVU to 9-7 in the Big East and 20-9 overall. The Mountaineers close the regular season with DePaul on Wednesday and then a primetime showdown with Louisville on Saturday night in the Coliseum.

On Sunday, Alex Ruoff's Second Homecoming Off the Week was a Better One (Daily Mail) as the senior guard had a team-high 16 points in the win. Freshman Truck Bryant was also Efficient and Effective in the Victory (Daily Mail), scoring 13 points and not committing a turnover in 25 minutes.

Injuries and, once again, mounting losses have taken their toll on the USF as the Bulls are Running on Empty (Tampa Tribune) as the season winds down. South Florida was playing without Jesus Verdejo once again as he is out with an injury. Dominique Jones scored a game-high 18 for USF.

Freshman guard Justin Leemow was pressed into action once again, logging 26 minutes. He was 0-5 from the field and 0-4 from three-point range. On the season, Leemow is 10-59 (16%) from the field this season
and 8-43 from beyond the arc.

At least the new rule will give the Bulls their first look at the Big East Tournament.