Head coach Bryan Hodgson didn't mince words after the USF men's basketball team lost 78-66 to VCU on Wednesday in the opening round of the Battle For Atlantis in the Bahamas.
"We've got to get better," Hodgson told Bulls Unlimited after the game. "It's on me."
After a promising start that saw the Bulls lead by nine a little over four minutes into the game, VCU took over. USF struggled to contain the Rams' 6-11 center Luke Dukjovic, who had a team-high 20 points and took 18 free throws (making 11).
USF was out-rebounded 47-39, but the bigger story is that VCU's defense harassed the Bulls' go-go offense into a crawl. The Bulls entered the game averaging 100 points after five games, and had a low of 95 points in those outings.
The Rams took away the 3-point shot -- USF finished 2-of-14 -- and harassed long-range scorer Joseph Pinion into a tough night. He finished with just five points on 2-of-7 shooting, including 1-of-4 from 3-point land.
"Credit to them. They do a really good job at following you to the rim. We didn't do a great job finishing at the rim, which is a problem when you play these guys," Hodgson said.
"And obviously, yeah, two for 14 (on 3-pointers), that tells everything you need to know. We just didn't get great looks, and we took some bad ones."
The Bulls will play Western Kentucky at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. The game will be carried on ESPN2.