USF MBB Takes on Georgetown

The USF Bulls, now 13-9 (6-3), and fresh off of a strong win at home over Providence, face a stiff road test as they travel to face #14 Georgetown.  The Hoyas, 17-4 (7-3) on the season, are coming off of a strong defensive win over UCONN.

The Bulls, sitting in a 3rd place tie in the conference are hoping their recent streak of strong defense and offense continues as they face one of the toughest road venues in the conference.  The Bulls lost to Georgetown last year, but Augustus Gilchrist did have a strong game with 22-points.  The Bulls are hoping they can duplicate the magic from the 2009 season when they upset the Hoyas on their own home court (game is scheduled for an 11AM start).

The Hoyas are led by senior guard Jason Clark (6-2 180-pounds).  He is averaging 15.4 points per game, 4.1 rebounds per game, and has 39 steals on the season, making him a tough match-up for Collins and the backcourt of USF.  Junior forward Hollis Thompson (6-8 212-pounds) is averaging 14 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game.  Senior center Henry Sims (6-10 245-pounds() is averaging 11. 8 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game, leads the team with 74 assists and has 34 blocks on the year.  The offense will run through him and the paint, so the USF big men have to limit his touches and keep the Hoyas out of the paint.

Sophomore guard Markel Starks (6-1 175-pounds) is averaging 8 points per game and 1.4 rebounds per game.  Sophomore forward Nate Lubick (6-8 235-pounds) is averaging 3.6 points per game and 4.3 rebounds per game, giving the Hoyas a big front line.

Freshman forward Otto Porter (6-8 205-pounds) is averaging 8.2 points per game, 6.8 rebounds per game, and has 26 steals off the bench (gives Hoyas a big presence off the bench).  Freshman guard Jabril Trawick (6-5 208-pounds) is averaging 3.6 points per game and 1.6 rebounds per game.  Freshman forward Greg Whittington (6-8 212-pounds) is averaging 3.3 points per game and 2.8 rebounds per game.

The Hoyas are very similar to USF.  They have a lot of size inside the paint, like to control the tempo, and rebound well.  The Bulls, which have benefited from their length and size, will face another team with similar strengths, making for an interesting match-up.  USF will need Anthony Collins to have a strong game, controlling the tempo and protecting the ball as they try to get a huge upset win on the road (why did they schedule another game at 11AM? Thanks a lot Big East)