When the book is closed on this season for the USF men's basketball team, there might be a chapter entitled "Close But Not Quite."
The Bulls experienced a case of deja fooey Saturday night at Temple, falling 79-78 and absorbing a third American Conference loss. USF is now 6-3 in a tight conference race, but that's hot the full story. The three losses have been by a combined five points and included three overtime periods.
The Bulls are still just one game back in the loss column, so their goals remain achievable. But head coach Bryan Hodgson was having none of that.
"We didn't play well at all," he said on the post-game radio show. "We were awful. We didn't rebound the basketball. To be tied on the glass with this team was unacceptable. We've got guards that just turn the ball over."
Despite that, the Bulls had a chance to salvage a win when Isiah Jones stole an inbounds pass from Temple with two seconds left. His desperation heave from behind the arc didn't come close to going in, however, and the buzzer sounded on USF's three-game winning streak.
To Hodgson's point about turnovers, USF committed 18 of those, and CJ Brown and Joseph Pinion combined for nine of them. The Bulls are also No. 1 in the conference in rebounding, while Temple is 11th. To be tied in that stat -- especially in a tight game -- was a difference-maker, especially with the Owls grabbing 13 offensive rebounds to USF's eight.
The Bulls were held to 11 points below their scoring average,
"I thought we got sloppy with our shot selection at times. And then the turnovers, careless turnovers. We got point guards throwing the ball into the bleachers," Hodgson said. "I think we stepped out of bounds five times tonight, which is absolutely ridiculous."
And then there's the "close but not quite" issue.
USF's six conference wins have been by about 12 points per game and only one, a four-point win at North Texas, was close in the final minute. But the Bulls' three American losses were by three to UAB in double overtime, and one point each to Wichita State (also overtime) and Temple.
Given the mistakes Hodgson mentioned, the Bulls can probably count on a few tongue-dragging practice sessions over the next few days. They return home Wednesday against UTSA, which is 0-9 in conference play. A high-stakes game against Tulsa follows on Sunday at noon.