Feb. 15, 2012
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
TAMPA, Fla. - Playing without its scoring leader, junior Maalik Wayns, Villanova fell to the University of South Florida here tonight, 65-51. A 45-point second half by the Bulls helped lift them to their second victory this season over VU before 4,636 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
Wayns, who suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee in a game against Providence on Feb. 7, warmed up in the pre-game and was in uniform but did not see action.
The Bulls took advantage of a suffocating defense that limited the Wildcats to their lowest point total of the season.
"They are a very impressive team," stated VU head coach Jay Wright. "They play very well when they have the lead as we saw tonight."
Points were at a premium in the first half.
Dominic Cheek scored the Wildcats first five points and helped Villanova build a 12-9 edge over the game's first six minutes. Mouphatou Yarou chipped in with four points in that stretch.
As the half played out, however, scoring became tougher for both squads.
The game was deadlocked at 20 at intermission. The last basket of the half for either team came with 4:04 to go before the break.
Villanova was 8-of-28 (.286) from the field in the first 20 minutes but remained even by holding USF to 9-of-26 (.346) shooting from the floor. Cheek and JayVaughn Pinkston led the 'Cats with five points apiece while Hugh Robertson paced the Bulls with six points.
USF owned a 20-17 rebounding advantage while the Wildcats forced seven Bull turnovers.
USF was able to gain the edge in the first eight minutes of the second half by forcing turnovers and capitalizing on those opportunities. The Bulls outscored the Wildcats 17-7 in that span to grab the first double digit lead of the night at 37-27 with 11:38 to go on the clock.
Robertson scored six points in that stretch while Cheek and Maurice Sutton had the only two VU field goals in that run.
The Bulls Jawanza Poland, who did significant damage in the meeting between these two teams last month at the Pavilion, scored five points as the Bulls pulled out to a 48-33 lead with just over five minutes to play.
Sutton was the only Wildcat to reach double figures, scoring 10 points to go with five rebounds. VU is now 11-14 overall, 4-9 in the BIG EAST.
Victor Rudd Jr. and Robertson led the Bulls with 14 points each. USF improved to 16-10 overall, 9-4 in conference action.
The Wildcats return home for a Saturday night clash with Notre Dame at the Wells Fargo Center (9:00 p.m./ESPNU/ESPN 950 Radio).
