South Florida looks to keep the momentum going as it hosts Loyola Marymount in the College Basketball Invitational semifinals on Thursday in Yuengling Center. With a victory, the Bulls will advance to the finals against DePaul in a best of three series.
USF defeated Utah Valley Monday in the quarterfinals and, in the process, set a new single-season school record for home wins with 16.
Loyola Marymount makes the cross country trip from Los Angeles after defeating Brown on Monday.
RunningTheBulls.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against Utah Valley:
Quick Facts
Matchup: USF (21-13) vs. Loyola Marymount (22-11)
Date: Thursday March 28
Time: 7 p.m. EST
Location: Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
Watch: BullsVision (Jim Louk, Darek Sharp)
Radio: AM 820 | USF Bulls Unlimited (Jim Lighthall, Joey Johnston)
History: This is the second meeting between USF and Loyola Marymount. USF won the only contest between the two programs on December 23, 2005 in the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, HI.
The Opponent: Loyola Marymount is led by West Coast Conference All-Conference First Team selection James Batemon (16.6 ppg), Mattias Markusson (10.3 ppg), an All-WCC Honorable Mention selection and All-Freshman team member Dameane Douglas (8.5 ppg).
Batemon, a 6-foot-1, 189 pound senior point guard makes LMU go. In addition to his scoring he leads the team in assists and is the Lions’ fourth leading rebounder. Batemon also averages 1.6 steals per game. Although he connected on 4-of-8 three-pointers last time out against Brown, Batemon is shooting just 28.8 percent beyond the arc this season. What he does very well is get into the paint to score, dish or draw contact and get to the free throw line where he is an 82.5 percent shooter. Slowing him down and cutting off his dribble-drive will be a point of emphasis for USF.
Markusson, a 7-foot-3, 261 pound junior leads the team in rebounds at 6.3 per game and is a solid rim protector. Markusson alters more shots than he blocks – just 27 blocks this season – is a good screener and is very mobile.
Douglas is impressive with the ball in his hands. He is very good in transition, as a spot up shooter or using ball screens. The 6-foot-7, 195-pounder is averaging 4.8 rebounds and has connected on 15-of-26 (57.7 percent) of his perimeter jumpers. Douglas is a very impressive on ball defender. Jump shooters are only making 24.7 percent of their shot attempts over Douglas.
Keep an eye on Eli Scott. A member of the WCC All-Freshman team last season, the 6-foot-5, 234 pound Scott is a positionless player. He can be a secondary ball handler, he likes to shoot off the catch from just inside the top of the key and LMU will post him up. He is a bit of a defensive liability however.
Offensively LMU is an excellent ball screen team and USF will see plenty of ball screen action and hand offs. They try to play inside-out by getting the ball into Markusson or a perimeter player who has posted up off a screen. The Lions will run some motion offense and we really liked a play we saw out of a horns set, into a flare screen with a throwback option.
Defensively LMU is below average defending transition but are an excellent half court defensive team. The Lions defend the post, ball screen action and spot up shooters extremely well. They play man 76.1 percent of the time. When they are in zone it is a standard 2-3. LMU will apply back court pressure after a made basket or out of a timeout. Their press has resulted in a 23.5 percent turnover rate.
Prediction
USF 66 LMU 61
Yes, we expect another close win. USF must be prepared to ‘go ten rounds’ Thursday night. We don’t anticipate a rock fight, but based on the three LMU games we watched we believe USF’s best offense will be transition. USF must get stops on defense, lock LMU up, control the glass and slow down Batemon. Also, when LMU goes into its Horns Set, the Bulls cannot give up layups.
