TAMPA, APRIL 1, 2019 – USF is one win away from capturing the College Basketball Invitational title after David Collins delivered a go-ahead floater with 1.7 seconds remaining in the Bulls’ 63-61 victory over DePaul on Monday night.
Collins’ runner in the lane through traffic helped USF (23-13) set a new program record for wins in a season and gave the Bulls the edge in the best-of-three championship series. The star sophomore from Youngstown, Ohio, finished with a game-high 23 points and his final bucket sent an electric crowd of 2,375 to its feet at the Yuengling Center.
Before the crucial play, Eli Cain nearly set the stage for overtime with a three-pointer with 12 seconds remaining. Despite the equalizer from long range, DePaul (18-16) scored its fewest points in a game this season and finished 17 points below its 2018-19 average.
Hampered early by foul trouble, Alexis Yetna (Paris) posted 10 points and eight rebounds to help the Bulls grab a 38-33 edge on the glass against the Big East’s leader in rebounding margin.
Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) heated up after halftime to score nine of his 15 total points. Xavier Castaneda (Chicago) and Justin Brown (Birmingham, Ala.) added seven points apiece in USF’s school record 18th home win of the season.
USF’s defense set the tone early by limiting DePaul to its lowest first-half scoring output of the season on the way to building a 31-25 lead by the break.
Collins was the first player in double figures with 11 points while the Bulls shot nearly 43 percent in the opening half. DePaul went just 8-for-26 from the field (30.8 percent) and one of the Big East’s top rebounding teams was edged on the glass by a 23-15 margin in the first 20 minutes.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Collins spotted USF an 11-point advantage with less than 11 minutes to play. DePaul stormed back to take the lead twice andFemi Olujobi’s free throws put the Blue Demons ahead, 56-55, with 2:23 remaining.
Rideau answered 29 seconds later with a wide-open three and USF led by as many as four before DePaul evened things up with Cain’s final basket from long range. Collins’ heroic play and solid defense on DePaul’s last-ditch effort paved the way for USF’s fourth win of the postseason, another top program mark.
Quotable
David Collins on his game-winning play and how it felt to help the Bulls take the opening game of the CBI championship series:
“It was seven seconds and we had designed a play, but they kind of denied the in-bound, so I had to catch it back half-court. Basically, after that point, I knew the screen was coming up and I just tried to come off the screen. He kind of went left. I feel like I crossed over and then the big man was right there, so I just kind of picked the ball up and split it, and I just shot a floater. It just went in.”
“It feels great honestly, but I’m just glad we got the win with the team. There were some big plays before that gave me the chance to even hit the game-winner.”
Head coach Brian Gregory’s thoughts on the Bulls’ gutsy win in game 1 of the series:
“It’s college basketball at this time of the year. It comes down to play by play, possession by possession. Give them credit because they made big plays down the stretch and then give us credit for making the big play on the last play of the game.”
Gregory on posting the program’s 18th home win of the season in the final action at the Yuengling Center this season:
“We knew this would be our last home game, so we wanted to end it with a much better effort and we did. When you think of our program and where we want to get to, it’s going to be based on toughness and defense and rebounding. We’re going to keep getting better offensively and that’s kind of what you saw tonight. I was pleased to end it (with) 18 wins at home, which is incredible. The four extra home games, I’ve talked at nausea regarding how important it was and how great it was for our program.”
Key Stats
10 – USF made 10 of its 22 total field goals from three-point range. David Collins led the way by going 4-for-7 from long range, including a 3-for-6 showing in the second half.
18 – USF finished its 2018-19 home slate with 18 wins, three more than the Bulls’ previous top season mark.
61 – DePaul was held to a season low of 61 points, 17 below the Blue Demons’ season average.
Notables
- USF set a new program single-season record for wins with 23. The Bulls also extended their program season record for home wins to 18.
- USF has won 13 more games than it did last season, which is tied with UC Irvine for the best win improvement in the NCAA.
- David Collins moved into 10th place on USF’s all-time season scoring list with 556 points. Collins took the 10th spot from Chucky Atkins, who scored 541 points in the 1995-96 season.
- Alexis Yetna is now second on USF’s single-season rebounds list with 327 after passing Kentrell Gransberry (325 rebounds, 2007-08) on Monday night.
- Laquincy Rideau is six steals away from reaching 100 this season. The redshirt junior guard already owns USF’s single-season steals record.
Up Next
USF will look to take a tournament title back home to Tampa when it travels to Chicago for game 2 of the CBI championship series. Action continues 8 p.m. Wednesday at DePaul (TV: ESPNU).
About USF Men’s Basketball
The USF men’s basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory. On March 22, 2017, Gregory was introduced as the 10th head coach in program history. He previously led programs at Georgia Tech (2011-16) and Dayton (2003-11). Gregory spent nearly a decade as an assistant coach under Michigan State’s Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo and helped the Spartans win the 2000 NCAA National Championship. Gregory brings nearly 250 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship, to Tampa. In his first season at the helm of the Bulls, Gregory led the team to its first 10-plus win season since 2013-14.
USF has retired three numbers in its 47-year history: Chucky Atkins (12), Charlie Bradley (30) and Radenko Dobras (31). The Bulls have earned three NCAA tournament bids and appeared in the NIT eight times.
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Jay D’Abramo
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