The USF men’s basketball team beat Cleveland State 70-55 on Monday, December 19 for another win in Tampa this season. In fact all of the games played at University of Tampa or the St. Pete Times Forum have ended in victory for the Bulls. The Bulls are unable to play in the USF Sun Dome this season because of renovations that will upgrade the 31 year old arena that should be completed by April 2012. The homeless Bulls do not seem to mind this inconvenience as they have won all six games played in Tampa this season.
Even a visit to the Lakeland Center to face Florida Southern on Wednesday, November 16 ended with a 73-43 route that gave the Bulls a 3-0 record at the time. It is what is happening outside of the state of Florida that has been cause for concern recently. The Bulls have lost all 5 road games outside Florida this season. It is true that USF has lost close games against Old Dominion and Penn State on the road, but they have been beaten badly in the other three road games.
The Bulls have another road test against Southern Miss at 8:00 Eastern in Hattiesburg, Mississippi this Thursday, December 22. A win against Southern Miss would surely help the Bulls gain confidence on the road as they head back home for games against UConn and Rutgers on December 28 and New Year’s Day respectively. These next three games will determine if the Bulls are ready to compete for an NCAA berth this season. Hopefully, the Bulls will show they are contenders and not pretenders. Go Bulls!!!
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