Matchup: USF (11-15, 4-9) vs. UConn (14-12, 5-8)
Date: Sunday, Feb. 23
Time: 2 p.m. (EST)
Location: Storrs, Conn. | Gampel Pavilion
TV: CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan, Bob Wenzel)
Radio: Bulls Unlimited (Jim Lighthall, Joey Johnson)
STORRS, CONN., FEB. 22, 2020 – The USF men’s basketball team will face the University of Connecticut for the final time as a member of the Athletic American Conference Sunday at 2 p.m. when the Bulls take on the Huskies at Gampel Pavilion.
USF (11-15, 4-9) suffered another heartbreaking defeat Thursday against Wichita State, as the Bulls fell 65-55 despite holding their 24th opponent of the season under its scoring average. Overall, USF ranks 14th in the NCAA in scoring defense by limiting opponents to 61.6 points per game.
Redshirt senior guard Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) paced USF with 14 points, six rebounds, two assists and three steals Thursday at Wichita State. Rideau ranks second on the team with 12.7 points per game and stands second in the league and 10th in the NCAA with 2.4 steals per game. He enters play Sunday against the Huskies needing one more steal to move into sole possession of third place on the league’s all-time career steals list with 164.
Junior guard David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) added 11 points and six rebounds against the Shockers and paces the USF offense with 13.8 points per game. Collins already ranks 12th all-time at USF with 1,202 career points and needs only 14 more to move into the top 10.
Sophomore forward Michael Durr (Atlanta) grabs a team-high 6.1 rebounds per game, while junior Justin Brown (Atlanta) has made a tea-best 42 three-pointers. Sophomore guard Ezacuras Dawson III (Miami) is shooting 41.7 percent from beyond the arc and ranks second in The American in three-point field goal percentage.
THE OPPONENT
UConn (14-12, 5-8) has lost two of its last three games after falling in double overtime on Thursday at Temple. The Huskies, however, are 11-3 at home this season and have not lost in Storrs since losing in overtime to Tulsa on Jan. 26.
Senior guard Christian Vital leads UConn with 14.8 points per game to go along with a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game and 63 steals. Freshman guard James Bouknight stands second on the team with 12.4 points per game, and junior Josh Carlton is tied for the team lead in rebounds with 6.5 per game.
NOTABLE
• USF is 4-22 against UConn in the all-time series that dates back to the 1972-73 season.
• USF head coach Brian Gregory is seven wins away from 300 career victories.
• USF is limiting opponents to just 25.7 percent from three-point range over the last seven games.
• David Collins has made 398 career free throws and ranks third all-time in school history and second in AAC history.
• Laquincy Rideau ranks 10th in the NCAA with 2.4 steals per game.
• Laquincy Rideau has the third-most career steals of any player in American Athletic Conference history with 163.
• USF is 17-5 since the start of last season when Justin Brown scores in double figures.
• USF ranks 14th in the NCAA in scoring defense by allowing just 61.6 points per game.
• USF has held 24 of its 26 opponents under their season scoring average.
• David Collins ranks 12th all-time at USF in scoring with 1,202 career points.
• Justin Brown has made the ninth-most career three-pointers in school history with 142.
• Ezacuras Dawson III ranks second in The American with a .417 three-point percentage.
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 owns nearly 300 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship. 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 47-year 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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For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.
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