USF Rallies to Beat Villanova on the Road!!

Blake Nash came up big for USF in the win for USF with starting point guard Anthony Collins down with an injury.

What a game. The USF Bulls were able to overcome an 8-point deficit in the first half to beat Villanova 75 to 57 in the team's first road win of the season and one of the biggest thus far in 2012. The Bulls battled foul trouble and an injury to Anthony Collins in the first half, but the team came together and pulled through for a huge win.

Anthony Collins had just 1 assist in the game before taking a nasty fall in the first half. He was able to return, but sat out the rest of the game with concussion like symptoms, hopefully he will be alright and able to go. The Bulls were able to rally without their stud freshman guard. Toarlyn Fitzpatrick had 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists on the night, finding his range. Augustus Gilchrist had 8 points and 3 rebounds. Shaun Noriega had 4 points in the game (killed Nova last season in the tournament).

Hugh Robertson had 4 points and 4 rebounds. Jawanza Poland had a huge game off the bench for USF to rally the team. He had 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists to lead all the Bulls. Victor Rudd had 8 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 assists with others having foul trouble, he got more minutes and played well. Ron Anderson had 8 points and 5 rebounds before fouling out. The real story was the play of Blake Nash off the bench, filling in for the injured Collins. He had 12 points (finally finding his range), while adding 4 rebounds and 6 huge assists. Nash is not a pure point guard like Collins, but he adjusted well and rose to the occasion.

This was a hug win for USF as they improve to 2-1 in the conference play and notch a tremendous win on the road. As Heath stated on the Dan Sileo show this morning, every game in the Big East is a battle, no matter who you play, the road is tough for everyone. For USF to go into Nova's house and get a solid win is huge for the team and program in general. The Bulls will have to get healthy (AC) and build off this win as they prepare for the game against Notre Dame on Tuesday night (game starts at 7PM).