PHILADELPHIA, PA., FEB. 21, 2021 (AP) – Xavier Castaneda had 18 points as South Florida got past Temple 83-76 on Sunday.
Alexis Yetna (Paris, France) had 12 points and seven rebounds for South Florida (8-8, 4-6 American Athletic Conference). David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) added 14 points, four assists and two steals.
Khalif Battle scored a career-high 32 points and had 10 rebounds for the Owls (4-10, 3-10), who have now lost six straight games. J.P. Moorman II added 10 points as did Jake Forrester.
USF used a 15-2 run late in the first half to turn a one-point deficit into a 12-point advantage and never trailed again.
Temple responded with an 8-0 run at the end of the first half to cut the USF lead to four, but Castaneda drove the length of the floor and hit a floater in the lane as the first half buzzer went off to push the lead back to six.
The Owls fought to within one point twice in the second half, but USF answered with a basket on both occasions to keep Temple from taking the lead.
USF led by 10 with 44 seconds and had to fend off a scoring flurry from Temple that saw the Owls score six points in seven seconds to trim the lead to four. The Bulls hit four free throws over the final 29 seconds to hold off Temple and win at the Liacouras Center for the second straight year.
Notable
• Junior guard Xavier Castaneda tied a career-high with 18 points.
• USF won back-to-back games at the Liacouras Center for the first time in school history.
• David Collins finished with two steals and moved into a time for the fourth-most in USF history with 181.
Key Stats
17 – USF caused 17 Temple turnovers and only committed seven of its own.
37 – USF received 37 points off its bench and was led by the 18 of Xavier Castaneda.
14 – USF finished with 15 offensive rebounds and has collected at least 11 in each of the last seven games.
1 – USF allowed Temple one steal.
Up Next
USF continues American Athletic Conference play Wednesday at 7 p.m. when the Bulls return to Tampa to host Temple on ESPNU.
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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 over 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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