Russel Tchewa leads Bulls with 13 points and seven rebounds
TAMPA, FEB. 19, 2022 – The USF men’s basketball team (7-19; 2-12 AAC) couldn’t overcome its shooting woes Saturday in the Yuengling Center as the Bulls fell, 65-57, to Tulsa (9-16; 3-11 AAC).
The Golden Hurricane shot 52 percent from the floor and 7-of-16 from three to pull away from a USF team that managed 35 percent from the floor and 5-of-22 from three.
Sophomore center Russel Tchewa (Douala, Cameroon) led the Bulls with 13 points and seven rebounds as he continued a string of strong play. Senior Javon Greene (McDonough, Ga.) added 15 points, many coming late, and Caleb Murphy (Youngstown, Ohio) 10.
“Russel is playing the best basketball of his entire life,” Bulls head coach Brian Gregory said. “He’s upset with the seven shots he missed (6-of-13), but he is getting more confidence and playing well for us.”
Tulsa was led by guard Sam Griffin who scored 23 points on 8-of-12 from the field and 4-of-6 from three. USF forced 19 turnovers and got 20 points off those Tulsa miscues. USF was playing its third game in five days (sixth in 13 days), partly due to COVID rescheduling, while Tulsa was playing its first of the week.
“We talked about it and our guys wanted to play the games,” Gregory said. “It is a factor, but it is not an excuse. We are playing better. We don’t have the tangible result we want, but we are playing better.”
Tulsa used an 11-point run bridging the end of the first half and the first few minutes of the second to take a 38-27 lead USF never recovered from after the Bulls led by as many as eight with 9:43 to play in the first half.
Back-to-back buckets by Murphy cut the lead to 38-32, but Tulsa answered with a three and the Hurricane pushed back out to a nine-point lead, 44-35, at the 11:58 media timeout.
A three from DJ Patrick (Powder Springs, Ga.) and bucket from Corey Walker (Jacksonville, Fla.) cut the lead to six, 46-40, with 10 minutes to play, but a Griffin layup capped a six-point Tulsa run and pushed the lead up to 12, forcing a Bulls timeout with 6:40 to play. USF could not sustain a rally and did not threaten again.
The team’s battled through a back-and-forth first half that saw the Hurricane hold a five-point margin at the break.
USF took a 9-4 lead into the second media timeout following a Greene three. The USF defense held Tulsa to 1-of-8 shooting and four turnovers in the opening eight minutes as the Bulls built an early lead.
Greene’s second-straight three and a Murphy jumper in the lane gave the Bulls a 14-6 lead as Tulsa called a timeout midway through the half. The Hurricane responded with five straight points to cut the lead to 14-11 and force a USF timeout.
Tulsa tied it at 16 on a Griffin three and took a 19-18 lead on Griffin’s second from the arc before a Tchewa put-back gave the Bulls a 20-19 lead at the 3:43 media timeout. Murphy hit a jumper to extend the margin to 22-19, before back-to-back Tulsa threes, including Griffin’s third of the half, gave the Hurricane a 25-22 lead.
A Serrel Smith (St. Petersburg, Fla.) three tied it at 27, but Tulsa closed the half with five-straight points to take a 32-29 lead to the locker room.
Notable
- USF has played six games in 13 due to COVID postponements in January. They now get a four-day break before returning to action.
- Russel Tchewa is averaging 11 points per game over his last seven games, well above his 6.8 ppg season average.
- Jamir Chaplin, the Bulls leading scorer in conference play at 11.3 ppg, again did not play for the USF after suffering an ankle injury seven days ago.
Up Next
The Bulls start a two-game road swing at ECU on Wednesday. The rematch with the Pirates, who won 65-57 in Tampa last Thursday, tips at 7 p.m. n ESPN+.
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About USF Men’s Basketball
The USF men’s basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory, who enters his fifth season in 2021-22. Gregory was introduced as the 10th head coach in program history in March of 2017 after previously leading 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 owns over 300 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship with Dayton. In his second season at the helm of the Bulls, Gregory led the team to the best win turnaround in the NCAA, the most single-season wins in school history and the 2019 College Basketball Invitational championship.
USF has retired three numbers in its history: Chucky Atkins (12), Charlie Bradley (30) and Radenko Dobras (31). The Bulls have earned three NCAA tournament bids, appeared in the NIT eight times and won the 2019 College Basketball Invitational.
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