Greetings from the Sun Dome, where USF opens Big East play with a huge challenge against No. 13 Syracuse. I'm very curious to see what the crowd will be like here, and to no surprise, the early answer is ... very Orange. Tons of Syracuse folks here -- I passed three tailgates in the parking lot, and all were 'Cuse fans.
Looking across from press row, there's literally 58 people on the other side of the lower level, 23 minutes before tipoff. Glance up and the second level is very, very orange -- literally a few thousand up here. Last year's game drew an announced 6,705 in the Sun Dome -- only Notre Dame and West Virginia drew more in Tampa last year. And yes, USF's students aren't back in session, so they won't be here as much as they should be for the Louisville game on Wednesday, but that's a tiny excuse for a game like tonight's.
Looks like the same starting lineup as Iona, with freshmen Justin Leemow and Eladio Espinosa getting starts despite combining for three points in that win. Espinosa has hit four shots from the field in USF's last nine games, after hitting seven shots in his first three games.
Oh, and yes, former Ohio State guard Anthony "Noopy" Crater, who is transferring after one semester with the Buckeyes, is in attendance tonight. He and his mother are sitting in the front row behind the Bulls bench -- again, his former AAU coach in Flint says the three top choices are USF, Baylor and Stanford, with the Bulls at the top of the list.
Times sportswriter Greg Auman, who covers USF, will post news and thoughts on the Bulletin and we invite your participation in the comments area.
Howard needs to start. Give him some confidence and he will be fine. He is very sensitive.
Posted by: Hoop Master | January 02, 2009 at 10:59 PM
I said I liked Leemow starting in the liveblog for the Iona game, and I think it's time he gets more minutes in place of Howard too.
Posted by: JT (Atlanta) | January 02, 2009 at 09:17 PM
Just got back to ATL in time to see Syracuse go on an 8-0 run. Awesome.
The team looks a lot better when they're not simply trying to shoot over the zone. Verdejo has been cold from deep lately and it's not Jones' game.
How's it going Dave? Long time no see!
Posted by: JT (Atlanta) | January 02, 2009 at 09:08 PM
I've already lost count of how many offensive rebounds Syracuse have had so far! This has got to stop if we are going to win.
Posted by: Dan | January 02, 2009 at 08:56 PM
Bulls 12-orange 13 11:16
Posted by: BullBard | January 02, 2009 at 08:53 PM
Eh. Noopy's going to see two things: 1. how desperately we need him and 2. how far away we are from being a viable Big East team.
We will beat a ranked team in the Big East this season. It just won't be tonight.
Posted by: David Weber | January 02, 2009 at 08:41 PM
Pro-syracuse announcers with ESPN.
Posted by: BullBard | January 02, 2009 at 08:41 PM