University of Richmond
South Florida
Bucknor's Career Night Paces Spiders To Victory
12/01/2004 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2004
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Sophomore point guard Daon Merritt poured in a career-high 21 points, including 10-for-14 from the free throw line, to lead Richmond past South Florida 78-72 at the Robins Center on Wednesday evening.
Merritt also dished five assists, his fourth straight game with five-or-more assists. He was joined in double figures by Jermaine Bucknor who scored a career-high 18 points and senior Patrick O'Malley who netted 11.
Bucknor added a career-best 13 rebounds to record his first career double-double. He was 6-for-11 from the field, 4-for-7 from behind the arc. The Spiders shot 50 percent from three-point range (7-for-14).
The Spiders turned the ball over a season-low nine times while scoring 22 points off 13 South Florida turnovers.
Merritt started the game with a triple at the 18:24 mark and the Spiders went on to build an 8-0 lead. South Florida's Terrence Leather got the Bulls on the board with a layup at the 15:58 mark. Leather (17) and Brian Swift (19) led the Bulls.
Richmond built its first-half lead to as many as 13 several times, including 41-28 at intermission.
The Bulls opened the second half with an 8-1 run and got within six (42-36) when Marlyn Bryant hit a jumper at the 18:22 mark.
The Spiders extended their lead and held a double-digit advantage most of the way. Richmond led by a game-high 21 points (67-46) when Bucknor knocked down a three at the 8:02 mark.
South Florida fired back with solid free-throw shooting and three pointers. A three-pointer from Marlyn Bryant with eight seconds remaining completed the scoring.
The Spiders return to action against top-ranked Wake Forest at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Winston-Salem. It will be the third time Richmond has faced the nation's No. 1 team. The Spiders are 0-2 in those contests.
NOTES: The Spiders are 3-0 all-time against South Florida ... Sophomore Gaston Moliva had a season-high three blocks ... The Spiders had seven blocks, their most since swatting seven against George Washington on Jan. 31.
