Matchup: USF (20-13) vs. Utah Valley (25-9)
Date: Monday, March 25
Time: 7 p.m. EST
Location: Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
TV: BullsVision (Jim Louk, Darek Sharp)
Radio: AM 820 | USF Bulls Unlimited (Jim Lighthall, Joey Johnston)
TAMPA, MARCH 24, 2019 – One of only 41 schools remaining in the postseason, the USF men’s basketball team continues its quest for a College Basketball Invitational (CBI) championship Monday at 7 p.m. when the Bulls host Utah Valley in the quarterfinals at the Yuengling Center.
The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a single-elimination tournament consisting of 16 teams that compete on home courts. The championship is determined through a best two-out-of-three series format featuring the final two teams that will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
Single-game tickets are on sale. All 100 level seats can be purchased for $17 and all 200 level seats will be sold for $12. USF students will receive free admission thanks to the generosity of the USF Bulls Club members.
USF (20-13) used a career-high 31 points and seven steals from sophomore David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) on Wednesday to erase a 25-point deficit en route to an 82-79 overtime victory over Stony Brook in the opening round of the tournament. Collins attempted a career-high 20 free throws and ranks ninth in the NCAA this season in free throw attempts with 257. Overall, Collins leads the USF offense with 15.8 points per game and was selected to the All-American Athletic Conference Third Team.
Redshirt freshman Alexis Yetna (Paris) scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds Wednesday against the Seawolves to register his league-leading 12th double-double of the season. Yetna, who averages 9.6 rebounds per game to lead The American and rank 27th in the NCAA, is just two rebounds shy of becoming only the fifth player in school history with at least 300 rebounds in a single season.
Redshirt junior Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) ranks second on the team with 12.8 points per game and leads The American with 5.5 assists and 2.9 steals per game. The 2019 AAC Defensive Player of the Year, Rideau already has the most single-season steals (86) in league history and currently ranks fifth in the NCAA in steals per game.
THE OPPONENT
Utah Valley (25-9, 12-4) finished in second place in the Western Athletic Conference but was upset in the semifinals of the conference tournament by Grand Canyon. The Wolverines, however, have won five of their last six road games and were victorious in nine of their last 10 games overall.
Junior guard Jake Toolson leads Utah Valley with 15.9 points per game and was named the WAC Player of the year. He leads the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (44.7) and ranks third in both field goal percentage (53.9) and free throw percentage (85.1). Toolson had 10 games with 20 or more points this season and was named WAC Player of the Week once. Senior guard Connor Toolson stands second on the team with 13.2 points per game to go along with a team-best 47 steals.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Brian Gregory on the matchup with Utah Valley:
“They have two very, very good point guards and sometimes they play them together. They’ve also good very good big guys inside that keep you from getting a lot of points around the basket. They have a veteran team that’s a little older because some of those guys go off on mission trips and come back and finish playing, so they are a little older and more experienced and they aren’t going to get rattled. They are another team that has done a lot during the regular season and enters this tournament with something to prove. I think they played that way the other night in their big win as well.”
NOTABLE
• USF and Utah Valley will meet for the first time in school history on Monday. The Bulls are 1-0 all-time against schools currently in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
• USF is one victory away from recording the second-most single-season wins in school history with 21. • USF has won 10 more games than it did last year and is tied for the eighth-best win improvement in the NCAA.
• Laquincy Rideau is the first player in USF history to win a Defensive Player of the Year award.
• Alexis Yetna is two rebounds shy of becoming only the fifth player in school history with 300 rebounds in a single season.
• USF is the only school in the NCAA to have its conference leader in rebounds, assists and steals.
• USF redshirt freshman Alexis Yetna has more double-doubles (12) than six teams in The American.
• Laquincy Rideau ranks fifth in the NCAA and first in The American with 2.9 steals per game.
• Alexis Yetna leads The American and ranks 27th in the NCAA with 9.6 rebounds per game.
• USF is ranks 11th in the NCAA and second in The American with a +6.9 rebounding margin.
• USF has attempted the most free throws in the NCAA (935) and has made the sixth-most in the NCAA (602).
• Laquincy Rideau looks to become the first player in AAC history to lead in assists and steals in the same season.
• Laquincy Rideau already holds the American Athletic Conference single-season steals record with 86. • USF ranks fourth in the NCAA with 13.9 offensive rebounds per game.
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 brings nearly 250 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship, to Tampa. In his first season at the helm of the Bulls, Gregory led the team to its first 10-plus win season since 2013-14.
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 and appeared in the NIT eight times.
For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls.
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