Wake Forest University
South Florida
Wake Forest Loses 75-67 to South Florida
12/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2006
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Kentrell Gransberry made three clutch free throws in the final minute to finish with 17 points and 15 rebounds Friday night, helping South Florida snap a four-game losing streak with a 75-67 victory over Wake Forest.
Jesus Verdejo, Solomon Bozeman and Melvin Buckley scored 15 apiece for the Bulls (8-5), who surpassed their win total for last season despite squandering most of a 16-point second-half lead and only scoring once from the field in the last three minutes.
Wake Forest (7-5), which shot 37 percent and misfired on 19 of 23 attempts from 3-point range, methodically trimmed the deficit to 70-67 on Jamie Skeen's 3-pointer with 37.7 seconds to go.
Verdejo's layup, off a pass from Gransberry, gave South Florida some breathing room, and the Bulls made three of four free throws the rest of the way to put the game away.
Wake Forest had won two straight following a four-game skid that included losses to Air Force, Georgia, DePaul and Virginia Tech.
Kyle Visser led the Demon Deacons with a career-high 27 points and 14 rebounds. Freshman Ishmael Smith had 12 points and 11 assists.
South Florida took advantage of Buckley's hot hand and poor shooting by Wake Forest to build a 35-21 halftime lead, with Buckley scoring 11 before the break and the Bulls using an 18-3 run to pull away.
L.D. Williams trimmed Wake's deficit to 47-40 with a three-point play with just over 12 minutes to go. A layup by the Deacons' freshman got his team within five before South Florida answered the 19-8 surge that carried Wake back into the game with a 9-0 spurt that restored the lead to double-digits.
