Thursday's Shootaround: South Florida wins their fourth straight, Dominique Jones is awesome

South Florida 72, Georgetown 64: There hasn't been a better player in the country that Dominique Jones of the last four games. I mean, this is basically the same South Florida team that struggled through a 1-5 start to Big East play, but during USF's four-game winning streak, Jones is averaging 35.0 ppg. Last night, he scored 22 of his 29 points in the second half as the Bulls overcame a double digit deficit to earn what is easily their biggest win in program history.

Has there been a more surprising turn of events this season than USF's transformation into a team with serious tournament aspirations? Before this winning streak started, the Bulls were 12-62 in the Big East. They had never won two games in a row in league play. They were a pitiful 3-35 on the road in conference. But now, they have won four straight games, including a win over Pitt and a win at Georgetown, who had just beat the pants off of Duke in the very same building on Saturday, and sit firmly on the bubble. They play their next two games on the road, but finish with four of six at home. Of their last eight games, only two teams have winning league records. There is a very real chance that South Florida could make the tournament this season.

And USF isn't even at full strength yet. Noopy Crater's finally back in the line-up after getting eligible and serving his six game suspension. Gus Gilchrist could be back as early as their next game as he has been suffering from a high ankle sprain.

West Virginia 70, Pitt 51: The Backyard Brawl turned into the Backyard Beatdown, as Pitt just didn't have the horses to run with the Mountaineers. WVU jumped out to an early double-digit, but they were able to fight their way back into the game by the half. In the second half, however, WVU just took over. Pitt couldn't make a shot from the floor (they were just 6-30 from the field in the second half), and they couldn't get a stop against WVU once the Mountaineers got rolling.

After a 5-0 start to Big East play that saw the Panthers beat Syracuse, UConn, and Cincinnati on the road, the Panthers have dropped four of five games. The Panthers have a fairly easy schedule down the stretch, and have done enough already to all but assure themselves of a trip to the dance.

Of note for the Mountaineers, Deniz Kilicli made his debut, and was quite the spark. He immediately scored six straight points when he got into the game, and finished with nine points in seven minutes.

Northern Iowa 59, Wichita State 56: Kwadzo Ahelegbe scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half, and Jordan Egleseder scored 15 points as the Panthers avenged a loss in January to the Shockers. With the win, UNI moves into a commanding three-game lead in the Valley, which may be too big to overcome with just seven games left. UNI has only lost to the Shockers in league play this season.

The loss was much more detrimental to the Shockers, however. Wichita State is firmly on the bubble, and right now they are probably on the wrong side of it. The don't have all that impressive of a resume, which means that beating UNI would have been a huge boost. The Shockers, despite having just five losses, probably need to win out, including a bracketbusters game against Utah State, if they want a shot at an at-large.

Kansas 72, Colorado 66: Colorado is becoming a tough place to play this season. The Buffaloes have already knocked off Baylor at home, and probably should have won last night. That fact is all the more impressive when you consider that Colorado was without stud freshman Alec Burks, star Cory Higgins had an off-night, and the Buffs shot a resounding 38% from the floor.

So how did they do it? Well, Kansas missed 20 of their 38 free throws attempts, and Colorado, who is probably the worst rebounding power conference team, hung with the Jayhawks on the backboards. If Cory Higgins had been more aware of the shot clock on the Buffaloe's final possession, Colorado could have won in regulation.

Cole Aldrich had 16 points, 14 boards, and 5 blocks, while Marcus Relphorde led Colorado with 18 points and 11 boards.

Bubble Watch

• Conference USA:
  
  • Memphis 85, UAB 75: Memphis got 29 points from Wesley Witherspoon and 25 points and 7 assists from Elliot Williams as the Tigers moved into a tie for second place in C-USA. This game saw 31 lead changes before Witherspoon went on his own 6-0 run to open up a 75-69 lead.
  • Tulsa 73, Marshall 69: Tulsa was down by as much as 15 in the first half, but they made a run in the second half. Jerome Jordan scored 24 points and completely outplayed Hassan Whiteside (10 points, 1 board, fouled out). Ben Uzoh's jumper with a minute left tied the game, and Jordan's two free throws with 23.7 seconds left won it. The win kept Tulsa atop the C-USA standings, while Marshall lost their third straight to fall to 4-4 in league play.
  • UTEP 65, Houston 58: Derrick Caracter scored 22 points as the Miners overcame a 28-14 deficit in the first half to beat Houston. UTEP improves to 7-1 in the league and remains tied with Tulsa for the C-USA lead.
• CAA: Old Dominion beat William & Mary 61-42, just about ending any hope the Tribe had of earning an at-large bid. ODU is still in the mix for a bid, but likely cannot lost again. George Mason lost to Georgia State onthe road 61-57, dropping the Patriots back into a first place tie in the league with ODU and Northeastern. VCU stayed alive with a 73-60 win.
  
• Virginia 59, NC State 47: UVa held the Wolfpack scoreless for seven minutes in the second half as they took control of this one and moved back into a first place tie in the ACC. Mike Scott led the way with 15 points.
• Charlotte 72, George Washington 68: Charlotte kept pace atop the A-10 standings as they were able to rally and beat the Colonials at home. Down 68-63 with just 1:25 left, the 49ers hit six straight free throws, knocked down a three, and forced two turnovers. Shamari Spears had 31 points in the win.
  

Other notable scores

• Texas A&M 77, Missouri 74: David Loubeau scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half as the Aggies ended Mizzou's 32 game home court winning streak. Donald Sloan chipped in with 17 points and 8 boards.
• Ohio State 75, Penn State 62: Evan Turner scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half, and also added 10 boards and 6 assists as the Buckeyes used a late 10-0 to pull away. Jon Diebler, who was off all night, hit the big three to spark the run.
• Vanderbilt 75, Mississippi State 72: The Bulldogs were able to come back from 14 points down, as Dee Bost hit a three to cut the lead to 73-72, but John Jenkins hit two free throws and MSU wasn't able to score again. Jermaine Beal had 17 points to lead the 'Dores to their 11th in 12 games.
• Baylor 84, Iowa State 63: Ekpe Udoh had 19 points, 10 boards, 5 blocks, and 4 assists and LaceDarius Dunn scored 21 points to lead Baylor to a win over the Cyclones.
• Arkansas 72, Georgia 68: Courtney Fortson scored 27 points and the Razorbacks used a 26-8 run to start the second half, overcoming a 15 point deficit.
• Xavier 87, UMass 79: Jordan Crawford led four scorers in double figures with 25 points as X used a 9-0 run to take a 77-69 lead late. It was probably too close for comfort, however, and Xavier failed to put away another opponent, blowing a 13 points lead in this one.
• Temple 76, Duquesne 60: The Owls got 14 points and 15 boards from Lavoy Allen, and 15 points from Ramone Moore off the bench, as Temple kept pace with Xavier and Charlotte atop the A-10.
• Richmond 68, St. Joe's 58: The Spiders got 18 points from David Gonzalvez as they were in control of this one for most of the game.
• Marquette 80, DePaul 69: Lazar Hayward had 19 points and 14 boards for Marquette, as they got revenge for a loss earlier in the season at DePaul.
• Illinois 57, Iowa 49: Demetri McCamey had 15, 7, and 7 as the Illini remained in a three-way tie in second place in the Big Ten, just two games behind Michigan State.
  

Wednesday's Best

• Jarvis Varnado had 12 points, 14 boards, and 9 blocks, but it wasn't enough to upend Vandy.
• Dominique Jones stayed on fire by going for 29 points, 8 boards, and 3 steals in a win over Georgetown.
• Evan Turner went for 27 points, 10 boards, and 6 assists to outduel Talor Battle, who finished with 24 points, 9 boards, and 7 assists.
  
• Anatoly Bose scored 38 points, but it wasn't enough as Nicholls State lost to Stephen F. Austin.