South Florida keeps their tourney hopes alive

Of the 123 Big East teams that have won 20 games in a season, 120 of those have made the NCAA Tournament.

With their win over DePaul in the opening game of the Big East Tournament, South Florida improved to 20-11 on the season. But despite the weak bubble, South Florida may still need to win one more game -- tomorrow's noon tip against Georgetown -- if they want to make the tournament.

"We need to win", South Florida coach Stan Heath said. "We definitely need to win. The best thing you can do is control your own destiny. We all want to make the NCAA Tournament."

The first step was today, and South Florida passed that test.

This game looked like it was going to be a blow out. Early on, USF took control. They were dominating play in the paint, they were forcing turnovers, they were getting out in transition, and they looked like a team deserving on an NCAA Tournament bid.

"Everybody just wanted to get this first win at Madison Square Garden in the Big East tournament," Dominique Jones, who had 20 points, 9 boards, and 4 assists to lead the Bulls, said after the game.

DePaul hung in there, though.

A scrappy Blue Demon team got hot in the second half, getting was at one point was a 28-11 lead into single digits for much of the second half, although they were never able to get closer than five.

In the end, South Florida was able to hang on, but the win didn't come without worry. South Florida did not hit a three for the entire game. In fact, they only scored one basket outside of the paint -- they had an unreal 50 of their 58 points in the paint and hit six free throws.

Heath wasn't terribly worried about it -- "We won. If we lost I would be concerned." -- but the Bulls will need a better performance from the perimeter if they are to beat Georgetown. This isn't a team that relies on the perimeter jumper, but the threat of knocking down a three opens up the paint, where this team thrives on Jones and Mike Mercer's ability to slash to the rim.

South Florida won their first Big East tournament game today.

A win tomorrow will send them to their first NCAA Tournament as a member of the Big East.