TAMPA, FLA., MARCH 7, 2020 (AP) – Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) scored 12 points and his 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left was the game winner as South Florida stunned SMU 61-60 on Saturday.
Isiaha Mike made 1 of 2 foul shots with 42 seconds left and SMU led 60-53. From there, South Florida (14-17, 7-11 American Athletic Conference) scored eight points in 24 seconds.
David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) made two foul shots for the Bulls. Then, off an SMU turnover, Ezacuras Dawson III (Miami) missed a 3, for which the Mustangs grabbed the rebound and called timeout.
But Mike turned it over on the inbound, Justin Brown (Atlanta) converted a three-point play on a layup when Mike fouled him with 13 seconds left and the Bulls were within 60-58.
After being intentionally fouled, SMU’s Tyson Jolley went to the foul line and missed both. However, Mike grabbed the offensive rebound, but he missed a lay-in attempt which set up Rideau’s game winner. SMU turned it over on its final possession to end the game.
Collins led South Florida with 15 points and Antun Maricevic (Zagreb, Croatia) added a season-high 14 points.
Ethan Chargois scored 20 for the Mustangs.
Quotable
USF Head Coach Brian Gregory on the win:
“Senior days are always emotional and difficult, and this one was as well. The sadness and the emotion of those guys never playing here again kind of gets wiped away by the way the game ended. I wanted to cry but it was hard because I was feeling so good about it. First and foremost, unbelievable credit goes to Laquincy and Antun, as I said the other day and you saw it today, those guys have changed the perception and expectations of this program. They both came into this program with a bit of a chip of their shoulders, and I think we’ve kind of adopted that as a team. Those two guys brought it every single day and they represent the program the right way in everything they do. It’s hasn’t always been easy because we’ve had to deal with some frustrations and disappointing times this season, but families stick together. We had to stick together until the very end. I challenged the underclassmen to make this day something our seniors would remember forever and they did that.”
Notable
• David Collins scored 15 points and moved into ninth place on the USF all-time scoring list with 1,266 career points.
• David Collins attempted 15 free throws and has now taken more career free throws than any player in school history with 623.
• USF held its 27th opponent of the season under its scoring average.
• Laquincy Rideau finished with five steals and now ranks second on the USF single season steals list with 77. He set the single season record last season with 101 steals.
Key Stats
32 – USF scored 32 points in the paint and received a season-high 14 from Antun Maricevic.
19 – USF scored 19 points off 18 SMU turnovers.
53.6 – SMU shot just 53.6 percent from the free throw line after entering the game as the top free throw shooting team in the conference at 77.4 percent.
Up Next
USF begins its quest for an American Athletic Conference Tournament championship Thursday at noon in Fort Worth, Texas.
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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.
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