USF ATHLETICS GoUSFBulls.com
TAMPA, October 29, 2019 – Justin Brown scored 19 points and made six 3-pointers to lead USF to a 76-62 victory over Saint Leo Tuesday night in an exhibition game at the Yuengling Center.
Sophomore Michael Durr (Atlanta) added 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds and Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) finished with 13 points, five assists and three steals. David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) also scored in double figures with 10 points to go along with six assists and three steals.
Isaiah Hill led Saint Leo with 14 points and Rusty Moorer chipped in with 12 points and three 3-pointers off the bench.
USF led by 14 points with 6:11 left in the first half after a layup from Rideau gave the Bulls a 30-16 advantage. Saint Leo answered with a 15-2 run thereafter to cut the deficit to one, 32-31, after a dunk by Hill. Jared Coomer tied the game at 34 just before halftime.
USF opened the second half on a 19-4 run and built a 53-38 lead in just over six minutes. An old fashioned three-point play by Kyran McClure with 8:30 remaining trimmed the lead to six, but Xavier Castaneda (Chicago) hit a trey from the top of the key to spark a 16-4 run that put the Bulls ahead 72-54.
Quotable
Head coach Brian Gregory on the game:
“I thought the first eight minutes of the game and the first eight minutes of the second half, we did some really good things. We shared the ball, moved the ball. Defensively, probably those two segments were our best. But it was kind of an inconsistent game, which sometimes you get in your exhibition games as you’re playing a lot of guys and giving guys different opportunities in different spots. It was good to play. We’ll be able to evaluate the film and sometimes teaching points are easier to make when you’re competing against someone else than if you’re just using practice. I thought you saw some guys that have made some strides in their game and now we need to keep moving forward.”
Key Stats
23 – USF scored 23 points off 21 Saint Leo turnovers.
26.7 – USF limited Saint Leo to 26.7 percent from three-point range.
52.5 – USF shot 52.5 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from three-point range.
20 – USF scored 20 fast break points and allowed just two fast break points from Saint Leo.
Up Next
USF opens the regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. when the Bulls host Arkansas-Pine Bluff at the Yuengling Center.
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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.
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