TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Be humble, stay hungry.
The gauntlet that is the Big East schedule makes it difficult for surprising South Florida to take any other approach to a stunning, middle-of-the-season turnaround.
The Bulls (15-7, 5-5) have won four straight following an 0-4 conference start, including confidence-bolstering upsets of No. 17 Pittsburgh and No. 7 Georgetown that seemed unfathomable two weeks ago.
Before beating Providence and Seton Hall in overtime to begin the surge, USF had never won consecutive Big East games.
“We knew we always had it in us. It’s just the process of getting it out,” said high-scoring junior guard Dominique Jones, who’s averaged 35 points and 7.5 rebounds during the winning streak.
“We go into these games and no matter what number people have in front of them, we know we can play with them. We know we have a good chance of beating them. … We’re just trying to push ourselves to a point where we have a number in front of our name.”
preciates his star’s enthusiasm. He also knows the Bulls’ work is just beginning.
It’s one thing to dig your way out of last place. It’s another to avoid sliding back into the basement in the deep, talent-rich Big East, which has four teams ranked among the top seven in the country.
“There’s a lot of games left, and we’re in an unsecure position. I told them to enjoy the minute, not the moment,” said Heath, who’s in his third season at USF after previous stints as a head coach at Kent State and Arkansas.
“It’s a learning process for our team because we haven’t been here before. But I still feel like we’re hungry, I still feel like we’re hunters. We’re trying to do something we haven’t done before, so there’s still a chip on our shoulders. We know we could have setbacks. We have to be ready to respond and recover.”
South Florida’s 72-64 victory at Georgetown on Wednesday gave the Bulls a .500 record in conference play for the first time since joining the Big East in 2005.
They’ve already set a school single-season mark with five league wins and could play their way into contention for a postseason berth with a strong finish, beginning at Notre Dame on Sunday.
USF hasn’t played in the NCAA tournament since 1992. The most recent of its seven NIT appearances came in 2002.
senior guard Chris Howard said.
“We want to make it to the NCAA tournament and compete when we get there, not just make it or be happy with 15, 16 wins. Let’s get a 20-win season. Let’s try to win every game.”
Heath led Kent State to the round of eight in the NCAA tournament eight years ago. He took Arkansas to the NCAAs twice in five seasons, but was fired following a first-round loss in 2007.
A week later, he landed at South Florida, which had dropped 28 of 32 conference games in its first two seasons in the Big East.
“I came in with my eyes wide open. I knew I had a lot of challenges in front of me,” Heath said.
“Our program hadn’t had much success at all, especially in the Big East, and we didn’t have much of a history or tradition of NCAA tournaments or Final Fours or anything like that to sell either.”
The 45-year-old arrived with a reputation as a strong recruiter. As an assistant, he helped Michigan State’s Tom Izzo assemble the talent that carried the Spartans to a national championship and three Final Four appearances during a five-year span.
thony Crater (Ohio State).
The 6-10 Gilchrist, out since early December with a sprained right ankle, will travel with the team to Notre Dame. He was averaging 18.8 points and 7.4 rebounds before his injury left the Bulls short-handed.
The sophomore’s return is one of the reasons Heath thinks his team can be even better down the stretch.
“We’re not necessarily at the same talent level as everyone (in the Big East), but I do like our chemistry and our intensity level has improved a lot over the last three or four weeks,” Heath said.
Of course it helps having a player such as Jones, who’s on his way to leading the team in scoring for the third straight season. He’s been hard to stop, averaging 29.4 points over the past nine games.
“He’s come a long way. And, it’s really not about scoring. It really and truly is about winning, and he’s doing it within our team concept,” Heath said. “He’s getting points, rebounds and assists, and he’s playing very good defense as well.”
Although the schedule is tough, Jones doesn’t feel there are any limitations on what USF can accomplish the remainder of the season.
In addition to Notre Dame, the Bulls face Marquette, No. 2 Villanova and DePaul on the road. Home games remain against Cincinnati, St. John’s, Providence and Connecticut.
s, whose 46-point performance two weeks ago at Providence was just two off the Big East single-game record.
“But I know teams are not going to give us wins. We’ve got to come to practice, work hard and go out there and take wins. Take respect. Take it all.”
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