National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
West Virginia 50, South Florida 44
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 3, 2012
Where: Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa, Florida
Officials: # James Breeding, # Ed Corbett, # Tim Higgins
Attendance: 9737

West Virginia 50, South Florida 44: Kevin Jones had 18 points and 11 rebounds to record his 20th double-double of the season as the visiting Mountaineers delivered a blow to Bulls’ NCAA tournament hopes.

Jones made four free throws in the final 1:51 after the game was tied 44-44 as West Virginia (19-12, 9-9 Big East) beat South Florida for the eighth straight time and received a first-round bye in the Big East tournament when Seton Hall lost at DePaul.

Darryl Bryant struggled from the field for the Mountaineers, but finished with 16 points by making all of his 12 free-throw attempts. Two of those came with 13.5 seconds left to put West Virginia up 48-44.

Anthony Collins had 11 points to lead South Florida (19-12, 12-6), which finished the regular season 14-2 at home. The Bulls were 2 of 13 from 3-point range.

Jones had 12 points and six rebounds as West Virginia led by as much as seven in the opening 20 minutes and settled for a 24-19 halftime lead. The Mountaineers had a 20-15 edge in rebounding and South Florida made just 1 of 10 from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Jones passed Rod Thorn to take over sixth place on the all-time West Virginia scoring list with 1,784. … Bryant started his 121st game for the Mountaineers, tying J.D. Collins for second on the all-time list. Collins is the older brother of USF’s Anthony Collins. … South Florida was 7 for 24 from the field in the first half and had just two assists.
Top Game Performances
 
West Virginia   South Florida
Kevin Jones 18 Scoring Anthony Collins 11
Gary Browne 3 Assists Anthony Collins 4
Kevin Jones 11 Rebounds Toarlyn Fitzpatrick 5
Darryl Bryant 12 Free Throws Made Augustus Gilchrist 4
Darryl Bryant 4 Steals Ron Anderson 1
Kevin Jones 1 Blocks Augustus Gilchrist 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
West Virginia 50 28.8 2-12 18-21 8 32 2 8 8
South Florida 44 39.5 2-14 8-11 7 27 6 5 13