Matchup: USF (8-7, 1-1) vs. East Carolina (6-8, 0-1)
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 7
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Greenville, N.C. | Minges Coliseum
TV: ESPN3 (Evan Lelpler, Stan Lewter)
Radio: Bulls Unlimited (Jim Lighthall)
TAMPA, FLA., JAN. 6, 2020 – The USF men’s basketball team makes its second true road trip of the season Tuesday when the Bulls travel to Greenville, N.C., to face East Carolina at 7 p.m. from Minges Coliseum.
USF (8-7, 1-1) turned in a 75-60 victory over UConn Saturday behind 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals from senior guard Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) Junior guard David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) added 15 points, three rebounds, four assists and four steals to help USF register double-digit steals for the fifth time this season.
Sophomore forward Michael Durr (Atlanta) came up just short of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, and both Justin Brown (Atlanta) and Ezacuras Dawson III (Miami) finished with eight points.
Collins leads USF with 14.6 points per game and ranks eighth in The American in scoring to go along with 2.2 steals per game. His 15 points on Saturday moved him into 17th place all-time at USF with 1,060 career points. Rideau stands second on the team with 13.2 points per game and ranks first in the league in steals (2.6 spg) and third in assists (4.3 apg). Nationally, Rideau is ninth in the NCAA in steals per game and Collins ranks 30th, making USF the only school in the nation with two players ranked in the top 30 in the NCAA in steals.
Brown adds 8.2 points per game and has made a team-high 25 three-pointers, while Durr paces the team with 6.6 rebounds per game.
THE OPPONENT
East Carolina (6-8, 0-1) has won four of its last five games despite dropping its conference opener 75-69 Jan. 1 at Wichita State. The Pirates opened the season with losses in seven of their first nine games before winning four straight to close the non-conference schedule. Overall, East Carolina averages 71.6 points per game but allows a league-worst 71.9 points per game.
Sophomore forward Jayden Gardner leads East Carolina and paces the American Athletic Conference in scoring with 21.3 points per game to go along with a league-best 9.2 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Tremont Robinson-White stands second on the team with 10.7 points per game and shoots 42.6 percent from the field.
QUOTABLE
“They’ve got some guys back that we’re banged up early, so they are playing much better. They gave Wichita State all they could handle the other night in Wichita. Gardner is a handful and is one of the best five players in our league. He’s one of the best power forwards in the country. We had a good matchup against him last year because of Alexis, but now we’re going to have to figure some stuff heading into this game.” — USF Head Coach Brian Gregory
NOTABLE
• USF is 10-8 against East Carolina in the all-time series that dates back to the 2002-03 season.
• USF is in search of its first three-game winning streak over one league opponent since it joined The American.
• USF ranks 39th in the NCAA with 8.9 steals per game and has at least eight in 11 of 15 games this season.
• David Collins has made 345 career free throws and ranks third all-time in school history.
• USF ranks 30th in the NCAA in turnovers forced with 17.1 per game.
• Laquincy Rideau ranks ninth in the NCAA with 2.6 steals per game.
• USF is 15-4 since the start of last season when Justin Brown scores in double figures.
• USF ranks 49th in the NCAA in scoring defense by allowing just 62.4 points per game.
• USF has held 13 of its 15 opponents under their season scoring average.
• David Collins ranks 17th all-time at USF in scoring with 1,060 career points.
• Ezacuras Dawson III ranks seventh in The American with a .432 three-point field goal percentage.
• Justin Brown has made the 10th-most career three-pointers in school history with 125.
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 250 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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