Matchup: USF (6-5, 2-3) vs. East Carolina (7-2, 1-2)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 9
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Greenville, N.C. | Minges Coliseum
TV: ESPN+ (Patrick Kinas, Jay Sonnhalter)
Radio: Bulls Unlimited (Jim Lighthall, Joey Johnston)
TAMPA, FLA., JAN. 8, 2021 – The USF men’s basketball team plays its first road game of 2021 Saturday at 1 p.m. when the Bulls travel to Greenville, N.C., to take on East Carolina at Minges Coliseum.
USF suffered its first home loss of the new year on Wednesday after dropping a 61-51 decision to Tulsa. Sophomore Jamir Chaplin (Norcross, Ga.) scored a career-high 16 points, while both Xavier Castaneda (Chicago) and Caleb Murphy (Youngstown, Ohio) each added 12 points.
USF AND EAST CAROLINA
USF and East Carolina will meet on the hardwood for the 21st time in school history when the two teams battle on Saturday. The Bulls own an 11-9 lead in the all-time series that dates back to the 2002-03 season. The Bulls have won three of the last four, which includes the most recent meeting — a 73-68 overtime win last season at the Yuengling Center behind 18 points and nine rebounds from Justin Brown. That score continued a trend of close games between USF and East Carolina, as four of the last six match-ups have been decided by five points or less, which includes two of the last three going to overtime, both of which were won by USF.
COACHING CONNECTIONS
USF third-year assistant coach Larry Dixon spent two seasons as an assistant coach at East Carolina during his 24-year coaching career that began as a high school assistant coach in 1996. Dixon coached at East Carolina from 2005-07 and was a member of Ricky Stokes’ staff with the Pirates.
BOARD BROTHERS
USF junior posts Michael Durr and Alexis Yetna have gobbled up rebounds since they arrived on campus as freshmen, and this season is no different as the duo are two of the top rebounds in The American again this season. Durr stands fourth in the league with 8.3 rebounds per game and Yetna ranks fifth with 7.8 per game. USF is the only team in The American with two players ranked in the top eight in rebounding.
THREE MORE TO GO
USF picked up its first league road win of the year Dec. 16 when it won at Cincinnati for the first time since 1988. The Bulls enter play Saturday at East Carolina needing three more road wins to register the most road wins in conference play since joining The American prior to the 2013-14 season. The Bulls have won three AAC road games in three different seasons.
X-FACTOR
USF junior guard Xavier Castaneda hit two of his five 3-pointers Wednesday against Tulsa and enters play Saturday against East Carolina scorching hot from down town. Castaneda is shooting 58.8 percent (10-for-17) from three-point range over his last five games. Overall, Castaneda is shooting 46.2 percent from three-point range and ranks sixth in The American.
BACK-TO-BACK
USF guard Caleb Murphy earned AAC Freshman of the Week honors for the second consecutive week, the league office announced on Monday. Murphy averaged 13.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game in games against Memphis and UCF. Murphy erupted for a career-high 20 points and added four rebounds, three assists and two steals Tuesday at Memphis. Murphy joins Alexis Yetna and Chris Perry as the only three Bulls to win AAC Freshman of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks.
NO SECOND SHOT FOR YOU
USF allowed UCF to grab just seven offensive rebounds Jan. 2 in its win over the Knights to continue a trend of limiting opponents to just one shot per possession. The Bulls enter play Saturday against East Carolina having held six of their 11 opponents to seven or fewer offensive rebounds thus far this season. In addition, the Bulls have finished with more second chance points in nine of 11 games and have scored 33 more second chance points than their opponents.
IT’S BEEN AWHILE
USF junior center Michael Durr pulled down 11 rebounds Wednesday against Tulsa and enters Saturday against East Carolina in search of his sixth consecutive game with double digit rebounds. Should Durr register at least 10 rebounds against the Pirates, he would become the first Bull since Terrence Leather to have six straight double-digit rebound games. Leather accomplished the feat from Feb. 22,-March 11, 2005 in games against DePaul, TCU, Charlotte, Houston, Cincinnati and Memphis.
To stay up-to-date on the latest USF men’s’ basketball news, follow the Bulls on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).
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.
For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.
– #GoBulls –
