GILCHRIST 'DOUBTFUL' TO RETURN TO USF; BULLS MOVE ON, DEFEAT AUBURN

South Florida got one big man back in the line-up, but another was still missing, and the Bulls were able to get past Auburn by the score of 61-49 Wednesday night in the Sun Dome. The win improved the Bulls' season record to 6-5 and snapped a two-game losing streak. Auburn drops to 3-6 on the season.

Jarrid Famous came off the bench to score a season-high 15 points on Wednesday. Famous, along with forward Augustus Gilchrist, missed the weekened trip to play Kent State. Gilchrist remained absent from the team last night and at this point it looks as though USF Doesn't Expect their Starting Forward to Return to the Team (St. Pete Times). Gilchrist was averaging 10.7 points a game this season after averaging 13 points and 6 rebounds a game last season.

On Saturday, USF head coach Stan Heath made his first appearance at Kent State since he led the Golden Flashes to the Elite Eight in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. He received a standing ovation before the game and the Bulls saw an early 11-point lead disappear as they fell 56-51 to the Golden Flashes. Famous and Gilchrist did not travel with the team for unspecified team reasons.

Famous returned against Auburn and scored his season-high, along with 6 rebounds, in 25 minutes off action off the bench. Hugh Robertson added 12 points and making their second consecutive starts in place of Gilchrist and Famous were Ron Anderson, who added 8 points and 12 rebounds, and Toarlyn Fitzpatrick who finished with 6 points and 9 rebounds. The Bulls outrebounded the visiting Tigers by a 40-28 margin.

The Bulls limited Auburn to 34 percent shooting from the floor. The were also able to get to the free throw line 39 times compared to the 14 trips made by Auburn. USF was only able to connect on 56% of their attempts (22), but their 9-2 advantage in second-chance points and bench production, led by Famous, was enough to get past the SEC program on Wednesday.

The win was USF’s first against an SEC school since 1995.

Coming off last season's 20-win campaign and the starting frontcourt duo of Gilchrist and Famous headlining their returning cast, 2010-2011 was hoped to be part of the continuing climb for Stan Heath and the Bulls in the Big East as a program. The likely departure of Gilchrist from the program will put those hopes in jeopardy this season.

"I don't want to throw anybody to the side, but it's a team. The team is the most important to me, having everybody on the same page, everybody with two feet in the circle," Heath said after the game to the St. Pete Times. "Nobody is bigger than the program. That's just the way I feel. If you're not here, you're not in the locker room, then you're not with the team."

Heath, as reported by the Times, said it was Gilchrist's decision to step away from the team, and there was little he could tell his coach now to change his future with the Bulls.

The Bulls host James Madison Saturday.

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