Bulls meet Marquette with chance for impressive win
Big East basketball coachessay after every road game, win or lose, that away wins areextremely
difficult to come byin thecountry’smost prestigious conference.
It’s because those road wins are so hard to come by that they bring such recognitionfor the teams that are able to achieve them. USF willget another chance for anaway win tonight, with agame against No. 17 Marquette in Milwaukee.
The Bulls (12-8, 5-2) are off to an impressive start in theleague and find themselves in a four-way tie for third place inthe Big East with Marquette, WestVirginia and Cincinnati They are2-1 on the road in the Big East.
Despite what the coachessay, some road wins areeasier than others. Thisseason, the Bulls’ road league wins have come againstweaker opposition.
USF knocked off Villanovaat The Pavilion outsidePhiladelphia, but the Wildcats are 10-10 overall and just 3-5 in the Big East. Sunday, the Bulls topped DePaul in Rosemont, Ill., but the Blue Demons are10-9 and 1-6 in the conference.
Road wins are good, butquality road wins are better.
Beating Marquette (16-4, 5-2) tonight would qualify as aquality win, as the GoldenEagles are nationally ranked and 10-1 at home this season, withonly a loss to Vanderbilton Dec. 29.
A win would also erasememories of one of USF’s most painful losses from last season.
The Bulls had Marquette on the ropes at the Sun Dome,leading by as many as 16 points, only to end up losing 59-58.
Even before beating DePaul, USF had eclipsed its win totals from last year both overall andin conference play. This season has already been a step forward.
If the Bulls knock offMarquette tonight, their steps will only grow larger.