University of Louisville
USF
Strong Defense Helps Louisville To 57-54 Win Over South Florida
February 11, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2006
Post-Game Audio Clip
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Taquan Dean scored 21 points and Louisville held South Florida without a field goal over the final 9 minutes in a 57-54 victory Saturday, the Bulls' 12th straight loss.
Brandon Jenkins added 11 points for Louisville (16-8, 4-7 Big East), which kept alive its hopes of being one of the 12 teams to qualify for the Big East tournament.
James Holmes led the Bulls (6-17, 0-10) with 16 points, but his 3-point attempt from the top of the key with 4 seconds left fell away. The losing streak ties the longest in school history as USF lost 12 in a row in 1979-80.
Solomon Jones, who fouled out with 2 minutes to play, had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulls.
A 3-pointer by Melvin Buckley gave the Bulls a 50-44 lead with 9:17 to go, but that was their last field goal and they didn't score over the final 3:44.
Frustrated by his team's rebounding struggles, Louisville coach Pitino inserted rarely used forward Perrin Johnson into the starting lineup, hoping his energy and athleticism would give the Cardinals a boost.
It worked for awhile, as the Cardinals outrebounded USF in the first half in taking a 32-26 lead.
Still, on a day when the Cardinals celebrated the 1956 squad that won the NIT, the current Cardinals had troubling making a little history of its own. The win was the 1,500th in school history. Louisville is the 18th school to reach that plateau.
Louisville played most of the second half without center David Padgett, who got tangled up with Jones after Buckley drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game at 34. Padgett remained on the floor for several minutes before being taken to University Hospital with a concussion.
