Marquette University Athletics
Men's Basketball Tops USF
2/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Travis Diener scored 20 points and Scott Merritt had 17 points and 15 rebounds Thursday night to lead Marquette to a 70-63 victory over South Florida.
Marquette (15-9, 6-7 Conference USA) built a 10-point lead in the first six minutes of the game and the closest USF (7-17, 1-12) could get after that was five on Bradley Mosley's 3-pointer in the closing seconds.
The Golden Eagles, who also got 19 points from Steve Novak, have won two straight since ending their first four-game losing streak in five seasons under coach Tom Crean. They held on, despite squandering most of an 18-point lead and only scoring once from the field in the final 13 minutes.
South Florida, nearing the end of its first season under coach Robert McCullum, has lost 12 of its last 13 -- all C-USA games.
Terrence Leather led the Bulls with 21 points. Mosley finished with 18 and Brian Swift added 11.
Diener is averaging 24 points over his last five games, but struggled from the field after scoring 13 in the opening half. He finished 5-for-17 and drew a technical foul for protesting a non-call during an 18-6 run that enabled South Florida to get back into the game.
Merritt had 11 rebounds in the first half alone -- three more than the entire South Florida team, including seven of Marquette's 15 offensive boards before the break. USF was outrebounded 31-8 in the first 20 minutes and 46-24 overall.
Marquette led 40-29 at the half and built its advantage to 49-31 before South Florida gradually trimmed its deficit to 55-49 with 7:59 to go. The Golden Eagles regained control, switching to a 1-3-1 zone defense and forcing turnovers on three straight possessions.
Merritt made two free throws and Dameon Mason followed with a reverse dunk that built the lead back to double digits. The Golden Eagles scored 14 of their last 16 points on free throws and were 13-of-14 from the line in the last 6:18.
