South Florida 54, Rutgers 52

3/1/2008 9:24 PM

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) -Dominique Jones' breakaway bank shot with 37 seconds left broke a tie and gave South Florida a 54-52 win over Rutgers on Saturday night, ending a 23-game losing streak on the road that spanned almost three years in the Big East Conference.

Jones scored 17 points, Jesus Verdejo added 16 points and Kentrell Gransberry had 11 points and 10 rebounds for South Florida (12-17, 3-13), which finally won a close game after three straight losses by four or less.

Anthony Farmer scored a game-high 18 points, including a driving layup over two defenders to give Rutgers its first lead of the game, 50-49, with 1:49 remaining. J.R. Inman added eight points and Cory Chandler seven for Rutgers, whose eight-game losing streak is the longest since 1987-88.

The game was tied at 52-52 before Jones' runner gave the Bulls the lead for good. Rutgers called a timeout to set up a play with 16.2 seconds left, but Mike Coburn?s contested shot for three was off target.

Both teams finished below 40 percent-shooting in the game. Rutgers lost despite outrebounding the bigger Bulls, 37-36.

Rutgers missed its first five shots and trailed 10-2 before Farmer scored five of his nine points in the half to bring the Scarlet Knights within one.

But South Florida caught fire and embarked on a 17-2 run, including three consecutive 3-pointers by Verdejo, and led by 16 points with seven minutes left in the half.

Cory Chandler finished a 12-3 run with a corner three in front of Gransberry and the Scarlet Knights trailed by only seven at halftime. South Florida made six 3-pointers and finished the half by limiting Rutgers to only 28 percent shooting (7 of 25).