Nightmare vs Son of Whyachi (via Battlebotvideos)

Okay, it wasn't that bad. But after a few minutes of play, it was obvious which team was dictating the terms of the game. And that was Marquette.

In the pregame article, Ken said USF needed to "find a quality shot within the system." Marquette played an excellent defensive game designed to prevent exactly that.

USF matched Marquette's defensive intensity for a while -- at one point both teams were 6 of 18 shooting -- but late in the first half, Marquette's offensive opportunities starting getting easier while USF's did not.

Here's a detailed look at one USF possession, and how Marquette's smothering defense prevented USF from getting said quality shot.

After a Marquette miss, they hustle back on defense, forcing Anthony Collins to slow it down and wait and set up USF's half-court offense. Marquette isn't quite in the 2-3 zone they played all night, but you can see it starting to form up in the below picture:

Collins dribbles right as Ron Anderson Jr. sets a lazy screen. The Marquette defender beats the screen to the high side, rendering it ineffective:

With nobody open to pass to and no space to dribble into, Collins throws it back left to Jawanza Poland:

After the jump, the rest of the play, and how this sequence epitomized USF's night.

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I'll keep it brief. Marquette is a very good team. The Bradley Center is a tough place to play. I wouldn't be surprised if we lose, but I've got a good feeling about this game. USF has a definite size advantage down low and can cause some real problems for the Golden Eagles.

Protect the perimeter, box out, and find a quality shot within the system.

Do that and we can win.

See you at 8:00.

In case you're wondering, game will be on BHSN, ESPN3.com, and 1250 WHNZ.

Go Bulls!

Our teams can't seem to avoid playing close games, so I'm sure it will be closer than I would prefer. But I officially predict that Marquette will come out on top and move into a tie for second place in the Big East. Let's say MU by 8.

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Thanks again to Andy for helping us out today, and make sure to head on over to Anonymous Eagle for my answers to his questions.

(DISCLAIMER: Enjoy responsibly. 21 means 21. Don't drink and drive.)

Going into tonight's game, USF basketball is in the rare position of having something to lose.

The Bulls' shocking 5-2 start in Big East play is generating some national buzz, and even cameo appearances in bracketology pieces. As Jamie explained earlier, USF also has a very thin margin of error when it comes to achieving a solid Big East record, a winning season, and post-season play. A road win over a ranked Big East team would confirm USF as a bona fide Big East contender. A loss would return USF to also-ran status.

And with all this at stake, look who turns up on the schedule.

Marquette.

Even accounting for football, has any school inflicted more torture on South Florida than Marquette?

• The 1995 Post-Season NIT Third Round game, which will be the subject of a lengthy piece this upcoming offseason.
  
• The infamous 71-36 beatdown at the Sun Dome in 1997, which led Seth Greenberg to say "sometimes you're the dog, sometimes you're the tree", and nearly get in a fight with Mike Deane over a late timeout. By the way, the game wasn't nearly that close.
  
• In 2007, Marquette beat USF at the buzzer when Jerel McNeal stole an inbounds pass and scored with four seconds left in a tie game. His shot just seemed to float there for an eternity, then roll around the hoop, before going down and denying USF fans even the temporary excitement of an overtime loss. Good night everyone, drive home safely.
  
• In 2008, USF beat a top ten Marquette team at the Sun Dome, but only after Wesley Matthews missed a five-footer and Lazar Hayward missed an easy putback. Even in defeat, Marquette tortures us.
• Then there was last year's cataclysmic fiasco of a game. I don't even want to talk about it. If you must know, you can read what I said at the time.

Folks, this one has tremendous potential to hurt. So for tonight's mixology, we're going to need something special. And for that, we turn to the realm of science fiction. (You can skip to 0:26.)

Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster (via sergeymk123)

Douglas Adams said the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster couldn't be mixed on earth, as it would violate both weapons treaties and the laws of physics. But various attempts have been made to re-create the the drink's hilariously potent effects using only Earth ingredients. Some are combinations of four or more liquors. Some are attempts to find real-world analogs for the fictional ingredients. Still others focus less on the ingredients and more on making the drink look science fiction-y with dry ice and/or food coloring.

But ever since I first read the books in my youth, I've always imagined the PGGB as being both incredibly strong and incredibly sweet. The kind of drink that would give you brain damage and diabetes at the same time. And the most common liquor combination in the "real" recipes seems to be Jack Daniels and peach schnapps.

With all of this in mind, here's my version of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster:

• 2 parts peach schnapps
• 2 parts fruit liqueur (Blue Curacao, Hypnotiq, Triple Sec, etc.)
  
• 1 part Jack Daniels
• 5 parts fizzy citrus soda (Squirt, Mountain Dew, Jones Soda, etc. Extra coolness points if you can get Pschitt!)

Combine all ingredients into cocktail shaker over ice. Shake well. Serve in highball glass.

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Some lessons I've learned while attempting to make the perfect Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster:

• The 50-50 ratio of mixer to liquors is key. It masks the potent ingredients just enough to make the drink pleasant, but not so much that it doesn't give you a buzz.
• If that's not enough alcohol content for you, you can add one part Everclear or other high-proof liquor. Increase the mixer by the same amount to keep the 50-50 ratio.
  • If you really want go crazy on the alcohol content, you can use a fruit-based alcoholic beverage as mixer. (This is a rare case where Zima would have been useful.)
    
• Don't increase the Jack Daniels. It starts to overpower the flavor of the drink.
• To stick to the intent of the fictional drink, the mixer needs to be sweet and fizzy. Something like Coca-Cola or cranberry juice is completely off-point, in my opinion. (But feel free to disagree; it is the nature of great literature that we can all interpret it our own way.)
• The drink should be green, or otherwise exotic-looking. This is one good reason to use a blue liqueur; the mixture with citrus soda makes a nice turquoise color.
• When experimenting, make small amounts and sample. It's very easy to make a combination of three alcohols and citrus soda that tastes just like three alcohols and citrus soda.
  
• To experiment with a ingredient you don't normally drink, you can buy those little 50ml bottles. I like to keep a variety of those on hand anyway, in case of guests with unexpected cocktail preferences.
  

Enjoy the Marquette game... but very carefully.

Skip Holtz and the USF football team got some great news over the weekend as they received a verbal commitment from Oak Ridge TE/DE Guito Ervilus. Josh Newberg of Bulls247.com was first with the news ($ Link), and Ervilus chose the Bulls over UCF, Kentucky, and FIU.

The 6'4" 220 lb Ervilus was starting to receive some attention from Florida State early in the recruiting process, but Guito tore his ACL during spring practice and they soon backed off. Guito can be used in a variety of positions including tight end, wide receiver, and even linebacker, but according to Greg Auman, Ervilus will get play at defensive end when he arrives on campus next season.

If you're wondering about his recovery process, Ervilus' knee is completely healed according to Oak Ridge HS Elijah Williams and is currently playing basketball for the Pioneers.

Ervilus has a chance to be a quality contributor for the Bulls on the line, although probably not for a year or two. With a solid quartet in Julius Forte, Ryne Giddins, Anthony Hill, and JUCO early enrollee Tevin Mims at end, Ervilus will have a year to learn the system and put on some muscle before earning a spot on the two deep in 2013.

Ervilus was rated as a 3-Star recruit by 247, Rivals, and ESPN, and a 2-Star recruit by Scout.

After the jump, we have a video of Guito's junior highlights.

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Yes, it's great to see USF basketball having some Big East success, since it hasn't come around that often. And they're in good shape to complete #TheQuestFor16. We have a KenPom subscription, and according to Pomeroy's data the Bulls are about a 70% favorite to win at least 16 games, and the same favorite to go at least 9-9 in Big East play (which makes sense since all remaining games on the schedule are in conference).

But let's calm down a little bit with the 20 wins and the bubble talk, shall we?

Don't forget USF has three stinky losses on their resume -- at Auburn, and Old Dominion and Penn State in the Hall of Fame tournament. All three of those teams clock in with KenPom ratings in the triple digits. On the flip side, the Bulls have just one top-50 win so far, against Seton Hall. Because of those bad losses, and the fact that they already have eight of them, USF is going to need something like 19 or 20 wins to get themselves on the NCAA Tournament bubble. This is very similar to two years ago, when they hit 20 wins and still didn't come that close to making the field.

Also, their Big East schedule is heavily backloaded. They have the game at Marquette tomorrow night, a visit to Georgetown next week, and then four straight KenPom top 50 teams to end the regular season -- at Syracuse, Cincinnati, at Louisville, and West Virginia. So far USF has made a lot of hay against their peers and teams that are worse than they are. But things are going to get tougher down the stretch.

This season is shaping up as a nice surprise and it's trending towards a trip to one postseason tournament or another. (Collin is probably pre-mourning the financial pain of a Bern's bet he made before conference play began, which he's well on his way to losing.) Let's let the surprise keep unfolding and try not to raise our expectations or dream too big at this point in the season.