GREENVILLE, N.C., JAN. 7, 2020 (AP) – Jayden Gardner had 23 points, 10 rebounds and a key blocked shot as East Carolina defeated South Florida 62-59 on Tuesday night.
East Carolina led 60-57 after a 3-pointer by Bitumba Baruti with 1:26 to go in the second half.
David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) made an uncontested layup for South Florida, making the score 60-59 with 1:01 remaining but the Bulls did not score again.
Tristen Newton made both ends of a one-and-one with 15 seconds to go and Gardner blocked a potential tying 3-pointer with 6 seconds left.
Brandon Suggs had 12 points for East Carolina (7-8, 1-1 American Athletic Conference), which has won five in a row at home.
Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) had 16 points for the Bulls (8-8, 1-2). Collins added 14 points off the bench and Xavier Castaneda (Chicago) had 10 points.
Justin Brown (Atlanta) finished with a career-high 13 rebounds to help USF hold a 37-32 advantage on the glass.
Quotable
Head coach Brian Gregory’s thoughts on the game:
“Give East Carolina credit. They were more physical than us and did a good job of taking advantage of some mismatches. They did a really good job in the second half of driving the ball to the basket. We did a much better job on Gardner in the second half after the first few possessions, but we were not able to contain Robinson, at times, and Newton in the second half. We talk about winning plays and those last three possessions were three really bad decisions. I liked our fight in the second half much more than I did in the first half, especially the first four minutes, but they were the better team today and give them credit for beating us.”
Notable
• Justin Brown finished with a career-high 13 rebounds.
• Laquincy Rideau moved into a tie for seventh place all-time at USF with 144 career steals.
• USF has finished with at least eight steals in 12 of 16 games this season.
• USF held its 14th opponent of the season under its scoring average.
Key Stats
54.2 – East Carolina shot 54.2 percent from the field in the second half.
9 – East Carolina made nine of its first 11 shots to start the second half.
19 – USF shot 19.0 percent from three-point range and made only four shots from beyond the arc.
Up Next
USF continues conference play Sunday at 4 p.m. when the Bulls return to the Yuengling Center to host No. 21 Memphis.
To stay up-to-date on the latest USF men’s’ basketball news, follow the Bulls on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).
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 CBI championship.
For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.
– #GoBulls –
