Matchup: USF (11-13, 4-7) vs. Tulsa (16-8, 8-3)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 15
Time: 12 p.m. (EST)
Location: Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
TV: ESPNU (Dave LaMont, Mark Adams)
Radio: Bulls Unlimited (Jim Lighthall, Joey Johnston)
TAMPA, FLA., FEB. 14, 2020 – The USF men’s basketball team closes a two-game homestand Saturday at noon when the Bulls host Tulsa at the Yuengling Center in a matchup broadcast live on ESPNU.
USF (11-13, 4-7) suffered a heartbreaking 62-58 loss to No. 19 Houston Wednesday at the Yuengling Center, but the Bulls still enter play having won three of their last four games. Senior guard Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) scored a team-high 21 points to go along with two rebounds and two steals. Rideau ranks second on the team with 12.8 points per game and is second in the league and 12th in the NCAA with 2.4 steals per game. In addition, Rideau is only four steals shy of moving into third place on the league’s all-time list.
Junior David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) added 13 points, three rebounds and two steals against the Cougars and moved into 14th place all-time at USF with 1,177 career points. Overall, Collins leads USF and ranks ninth in The American with 14.0 points per game. Collins has also attempted the 20th-most free throws in the NCAA this season and has made the second-most career free throws of any player in conference history.
Junior Justin Brown (Atlanta) is third on the team with 8.0 points per game and second with 5.1 rebounds per game. Brown enters the weekend averaging 12.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game over the last three games. Sophomore forward Michael Durr (Atlanta) leads USF with 6.1 rebounds per game to go along with 6.0 points per game.
THE OPPONENT
Tulsa (16-8, 8-3) sits in third place in the league standings despite dropping two of its last three games. The Golden Hurricane won seven of their first eight league games before suffering their first two-game losing streak of the year with consecutive losses to UConn and USF. Tulsa returned to its winning ways on Wednesday with a 70-56 home victory over East Carolina.
Junior guard Brandon Rachal is the leading scorer and rebounder for Tulsa with 13.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Senior forward Martins Igbanu adds 13.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and is shooting 55.3 percent from the field. Transfer Jeriah Horne also scores in double figures with 11.3 points per game to go along with 5.2 rebounds per game.
QUOTABLE
USF Head Coach Brian Gregory on the matchup with Tulsa:
“It doesn’t get any easier. We’re playing the second-place team in the league. Frank has done such a good job with them. They are a very veteran team with only one freshman in the playing group, everybody else is an upperclassman. They’ve really been carried by their juniors and seniors. This is another great opportunity for us to play another high-quality opponent in our league. We have to bounce back and put Wednesday night behind us. We have to continue to play with that same energy and same focus that we had the other night against a very good Houston team.”
NOTABLE
• USF is 0-8 against Tulsa in the all-time series that dates back to the 2014-15 season.
• USF head coach Brian Gregory is seven wins away from 300 career victories.
• USF is limiting opponents to just 26.4 percent from three-point range over the last five games.
• David Collins has made 392 career free throws and ranks third all-time in school history.
• Laquincy Rideau ranks 12th in the NCAA with 2.4 steals per game.
• Laquincy Rideau has the fourth-most career steals of any player in American Athletic Conference history with 159.
• USF is 17-4 since the start of last season when Justin Brown scores in double figures.
• USF ranks 16th in the NCAA in scoring defense by allowing just 61.7 points per game.
• USF has held 22 of its 24 opponents under their season scoring average.
• David Collins ranks 14th all-time at USF in scoring with 1,177 career points.
• Justin Brown has made the ninth-most career three-pointers in school history with 140.
• Ezacuras Dawson III ranks third in The American with a .420 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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