Syracuse 72, USF 49 Final Score: Jackson Collects 16th Double-Double In Victory

The No. 17 Syracuse Orange ended their three-game road stretch with a solid 72-49 victory Saturday afternoon against the South Florida Bulls in a Big East Conference contest at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL. Senior forward Rick Jackson collected 21 points and 12 rebounds for his16th  double-double of the season. Teammate junior forward Kris Joseph added 14 points while freshman guard Dion Waiters added 10 points off the bench.

The Orange (20-4, 7-4), who beat the Connecticut Huskies (No. 6 in the AP poll and No. 7 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll) Wednesday night, are now on a two-game winning streak after losing four consecutive. Currently, SU is tied with the Georgetown Hoyas for fifth place in the Big East standings. USF (8-16, 2-9) has lost four of it's last five games and sits 15th in the 16-team league.

Syracuse, which did trail 11-10 early in the first half, used a 12-0 run to take a 22-11 advantage with about eight minutes to go in the first half. From there, the Orange never looked back. SU finished 25-of-56 from the floor (44.6 percent) and owned the rebound margin, 40-26.

Senior forward Jarrid Famous scored a team-best 14 points for USF. Teammate and the Bulls leading scorer, junior forward Augustus Gilchrist, netted just four points. USF shot just 18-of-51 from the field (35.3 percent) and 2-of-15 (13.3) from behind the 3-point arc.

The Syracuse basketball schedule has the Orange hosting conference rival the Georgetown Hoyas (No. 13 in the AP poll and No. 14 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll) on Wednesday night (7 p.m.). Next Saturday, Syracuse travels to the Louisville Cardinals (No. 15 in the AP poll and No. 13 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll).

Syracuse 37, USF 28 Halftime Score: Rick Jackson's 13 Points Helps SU Earn Lead

Behind senior forward Rick Jackson's game-best 13 points, the Syracuse Orange lead the South Florida Bulls 37-28 at halftime of a Big East Conference contest at the St. Petersburg Forum. The Orange (19-4, 6-4) are trying to end their three-game road stretch with back-to-back victories -- on Tuesday night, SU beat the Connecticut Huskies (No. 6 in the AP poll and No. 7 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll) 66-58.

Syracuse used a 12-0 run, led by junior forward Kris Joseph and freshman forward C.J. Fair each netting four points, to take a 22-11 lead with about eight minutes remaining. However, USF which did have an early 11-10 advantage, used a small spurt to cut the margin to xx points heading into the locker room.

So far, Joseph has 7 points and 5 rebounds while teammate Fair has 5 points and a team-best 8 rebounds. The Orange are 12-of-31 from the field (38.7 percent) and 3-of-9 from behind the 3-point arc.

Sophomore forward Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, senior center Jarrid Famous and junior guard Hugh Robertson each have a team-best six points for USF (8-15, 2-8), which is 10-of-28 (35.7) on field goals and 1-of-8from 3-point land.

Syracuse Vs. USF: SU Ends Road Strech At South Florida

The No. 17 Syracuse Orange will complete their three-game road stretch Saturday afternoon against the South Florida Bulls (2 p.m. on SNY) in a Big East Conference contest at the St. Petersburg Times Forum in Tampa, FL. The Orange (19-4, 6-4 Big East) will try to build on their Wednesday victory, 66-58, at the Connecticut Huskies (No. 6 in the AP poll and No. 7 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll) that ended a four-game losing streak. USF (8-15, 2-8) has lost three of it's last four games, the latest was a 68-63 loss to the Providence Friars on Wednesday.

Currently, the Bulls, who have the second-worst record in the 16-team conference, are led by four-year coach Stan Heath, who's 46-69 at USF. Junior forward Augustus Gilchrist leads the team in scoring average. In 10 Big East games, Gilchrist is averaging 14.8 point-per game and 7.8 rebounds-per game.

As a team, USF is last in the league in scoring average (63.0) and second-worst in field goal percentage (.418). Surprisingly, USF's season-high in scoring (79 points) came against Providence, Jan. 17. Also, USF doesn't shoot well from behind the 3-point arc (.301 percent -- third-worst in the league). However, the Bulls do rebound the ball well (37.9 per-game -- ranked sixth in the league) and make their free throws (.706 -- fifth).

Syracuse owns a 7-1 record against USF, who last beat SU in 2008.

Some information for this piece was provided by SUAthletics.com and GoUSFBulls.com.