TAMPA, FLA., DEC. 6, 2019 (AP) – David Collins scored 13 points and Ezacuras Dawson III and Antun Maricevic led a second-half surge as South Florida pulled away from Dartmouth 63-44 on Friday night.
Dawson (Miami) scored nine of his 11 points and Maricevic (Zagreb, Croatia) all 10 of his in the second half when the Bulls (5-4), who led by three at halftime, outscored Dartmouth 37-21.
Ian Sistare, Aaryn Rai and Chris Knight scored eight points each for the Big Green (5-4).
The Bulls took the lead for good in the final four minutes of the first half, and then had a pair of 10-0 runs during which Dawson scored all of his second-half points and Maricevic eight to go up by 22 with eight minutes left in the game.
Quotable
Head coach Brian Gregory’s thoughts on the win:
“I just told the guys at halftime, ‘We just need to tighten up a little bit more. The offense is gonna come.’ I thought the last 10 minutes, we did a better job trying to get into the paint and drive. We got to the free throw line, we got them in foul trouble. We started physically wearing them down a little bit. Then the second half, defensively the first 12 minutes was exceptional and the offense kind of clicked. Then all the sudden, you make a couple shots.”
Gregory on different players contributing in addition to the usual strong efforts of David Collins and Laquincy Rideau:
“We got, in that type of setting, good games from David, good games from Laquincy, and then other guys had to step up. It’s gonna be different guys in different games. The other night it was Castaneda. Tonight, Dawson hit some big shots. But the guy who played really well for us in that stretch was obviously Antun. We were able to throw the ball into him. There was no tiptoeing through the tulips. It was, ‘You put your shoulder down and attack the basket.’ He did a great job of that and that really gave us a big lift.”
Notable
• David Collins scored 13 points and needs 14 more for 1,000.
• USF connected on eight 3-pointers and has made at least one trey in 138 consecutive games.
• USF is 19-6 at home against non-conference competition under head coach Brian Gregory.
• Justin Brown made two three-pointers and is three shy from the 10th-most all-time in school history.
• USF has won six straight games in the month of December and has won by an average of 15.5 points per game.
Key Stats
30 – USF received 30 points from its bench and limited Dartmouth’s reserves to 13.
0 – No Dartmouth player scored in double figures.
21 – Dartmouth committed 21 turnovers that lead to 18 USF points.
Up Next
USF closes a three-game homestand Sunday, Dec. 15 at 4 p.m. when the Bulls host Drexel 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.
