USF v. Maryland-Eastern Shore Haiku and Recap

Haiku:

Well, that's more like it.
Collins and Fitzy do work,
Heath empties the bench.

Summary:

USF got through the first game of three straight without much trouble. It was key for Stan Heath to not have to lean too hard on any particular players so they could survive the tournament, and fortunately the Bulls ran out to a big enough lead that he didn't have to. Only Toarlyn Fitzpatrick and JAWANZA! played more than 24 minutes, and Heath got 11 of his 12 available players into the game (sorry, Shemiye McClendon).

There's still some concern with the interior defense, because UMES's two starting forwards combined for 26 points and 14 rebounds. Ronald Spencer and Troy Snyder went 10-for-19 from the floor, but fortunately the rest of the Hawks only shot 8-for-38.

Still, there was no way USF was going to lose. It was the kind of game where Heath was able to play Shaun Noriega extended minutes, and he hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points. Anthony Collins had 13 points and seven assists, and Fitzpatrick led all scorers with 16. The Bulls led by as many as 29 points in the second half and coasted in for their first win of the season.

Game 2 for the Bulls in the USF Invitational is tomorrow night against Loyola of Chicago at 7:30. Watch the football game, and then get to the Sun Dome for (probably) another win.