Men's Basketball February 10, 2015 USF

USF to Play In-State Rival UCF Wednesday

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TAMPA, Fla., FEB. 10, 2015 – USF looks to continue its good fortune at CFE Arena when the Bulls play the Knights Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Orlando, Fla.

USF is 7-17 overall (1-10 American Athletic Conference) following a 63-58 loss at Cincinnati on Saturday, a game without its third-leading scorer Nehemias Morillo (illness). The game with the Bearcats ended an 11-game stretch of tough opponents to begin the conference season. Nine of USF's 10 conference losses over that time have come against teams with an NCAA RPI of 100 or better. USF's next seven games are against teams with a combined winning percentage of .260.

The Bulls begin the home stretch of its schedule on Wednesday against I-4 rival UCF (9-13, 2-9), a team that they have had success against on the road. Last season, USF won in exciting fashion, 79-78 in overtime. In the game, Victor Rudd scored eight of his game-high 25 points in overtime and Shemiye McLendon hit a free throw with 0.8 seconds remaining in front of 6,108 fans at CFE Arena.

Just as Rudd led the Bulls in scoring in most of last season's games, Corey Allen Jr. (St. Louis) has led USF in 14 of its 24 games this season. He scored a game-high 18 points against the Bearcats, the best defensive team in the conference, and on Monday was named to the American Athletic Conference Honor Roll. Allen Jr.'s 15.4 points per game ranks second in the conference.

UCF is coming off a 67-49 loss at East Carolina on Saturday. The Knights are led in scoring by B.J. Taylor with 13.8 points per game. The freshman guard has made 38.6 percent of his 3-pointers this season, helping the Knight's to a team percentage of 35.9 from beyond-the-arc, the second-best in the conference.

SERIES INFORMATION

USF leads the all-time series 21-8 including an 8-5 advantage in Orlando. The Bulls have won the past two meetings in Orlando, but UCF won the last meeting overall, 75-74 in Tampa on Feb. 15, 2014. The last two meetings have each been decided by one point.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

The game can be viewed on ESPNews or the WatchESPN app with Allen Bestwick and Malcolm Huckaby on the call. Listen to the radio broadcast on 1010 AM or online at GoUSFBulls.com.

QUOTE TO NOTE

“What I told the guys was how proud of I was of them for competing. No one pouted or made excuses. Next man steps up, and we have to go out and do a job. That's what we had, and that's what we rolled with. They gave us a valiant effort.”

- Orlando Antigua on the Bulls' loss at Cincinnati

USF BASKETBALL SHOW DATE CHANGE

The USF Basketball Show which was previously scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 18 will instead be Thursday, Feb. 19 in Forest Hills at the following address: 8810 N Himes Ave. Tampa, Fla. 33614.

STATEMENT ON CHRIS PERRY

The following statement was released about the team's leading rebounder, Chris Perry on Jan. 28: University of South Florida sophomore forward Chris Perry will be out indefinitely with a health issue.

STUDENT SUPPORT

Among USF's season high crowd of 6,128 fans against UConn on Tuesday, Jan. 6 were 2,271 students. It was the most students to ever see a game in the renovated Sun Dome, which opened for the 2012-13 season.

USF VS. KENTUCKY IN NOVEMBER

It was announced that USF will play Kentucky, the winningest program in college basketball history, on Nov. 27, 2015 at the first-ever Hoophall Miami Invitational at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Fla.

- It will be the first meeting between the two programs. It will be the first time that USF head coach Orlando Antigua will go against his former employer Kentucky after spending the past five seasons as an assistant for the Wildcats. Memphis and Ohio State is the other game of the doubleheader which is a Naismith Hall of Fame event.

RESILIENT BULLS

The coach is in his first year as head coach at the college level, the team has the second fewest years of Division I experience and the Bulls continue to show their toughness and resilience. Here are the examples.

- USF had a three-point lead, 61-58, with 54 seconds to play, on the road at UAB. The Blazers tied the game with 7 seconds remaining before USF gave Coach Antigua his first overtime win by a 73-71 margin.

- At NC State, USF trailed by its largest margin of the game, 11 (65-54), with 2:57 to play. The Bulls ended the game on an 11-3 run as a Corey Allen Jr. 44-foot shot missed, resulting in a 68-65 win for the Wolfpack.

- Against Hofstra, USF trailed by 15 (57-42) with 8:33 to play, its largest margin of the game. The Bulls ended the game on an 18-6 run and made seven of its last seven field goal attempts including the game-winning layup with 7.8 remaining. USF won 71-70.

- USF trailed by 19, its largest margin of the game, with 6:56 to play at Alabama. The Bulls went on a 16-6 run over the next 2:58 to cut the Crimson Tide lead to eight points, 71-63 with 3:58 to play. USF lost the game 82-71.

- The Bulls trailed by 10 points at Detroit, its largest of the game, with 7:29 remaining. USF got it to within one point twice, 54-53 with 5:27 on the clock and 56-55 with 4:19 left. However, the Bulls could never take a second half lead as the Titans ended the game on an 11-2 run. Detroit won 67-57.

- USF trailed by 16 points with 16:35 to play against Georgia Southern, it's largest deficit of the game. The Bulls fought back as they have all year and were down three points, 63-60 with 1:52 to play and 66-63 with 22 seconds left. Georgia Southern won 68-63.

- At Tulane, USF trailed for most of the game and by 12, 41-29, with 12:03 remaining in the second half. From that point, USF went on a 17-4 run to take a 46-45 lead with 22 seconds remaining. Anthony Collins made the go-ahead bucket, a layup just outside the paint. Tulane won the game in overtime, 56-51.

- At Cincinnati, USF trailed by 16 points, 28-12, with 4:42 to play in the first half. The Bulls then went on a 29-8 scoring run and held a second half lead of 41-37 with 10:49 to play in the game. Cincinnati won the game 63-58.

KENTUCKY'S ONLY LOSS

- No. 1 ranked Kentucky has not lost this season and some experts say they never will. However, the only blemish for the Wildcats came in August when Orlando Antigua's Dominican Republic national team defeated UK 63-62.

- Antigua was an assistant with Kentucky the previous five seasons and has helped recruit much of the Wildcats' current roster.

EARLY SIGNING DAY

USF was busy during the early signing period, grabbing three to national letters of intent including two four-star prospects.

- Tulio Da Silva is a 6-8, 200-pound forward from Brazil and is currently playing at Arlington Country Day High School in Jacksonville, Fla. Da Silva is one of the most unknown players in the country, but was given a four-star rating by ESPN.com.

- Louis Santos is a 6-8, 245-pound forward from Bronx, N.Y. and is currently playing at Sunrise Christian High School in Wichita, Kan. Santos was given a four-star rating by ESPN.com. He attended St. Raymond High School in Bronx, N.Y., the same school as head coach Orlando Antigua and assistant coach Oliver Antigua.

- Jahmal McMurray is a 6-0, 175-pound guard from Topeka, Kan. and is currently playing at Sunrise Christian Prep in Wichita, Kan. McMurray was given a three-star rating by Rivals.com. He was a three-time all-state selection at Highland Park High School in Topeka.

YOUNG BULLS

With a coaching change comes roster turnover. Not many teams were affected more with a coaching change than USF. Nine players departed last year's team, two to graduation.

- USF returned only three, Corey Allen Jr., Anthony Collins and Chris Perry, who played in an NCAA game last season. By that measure, USF is the second youngest team in the country. Only Tennessee State has returned fewer players who played last season with two. USF and Troy are the only teams with three.

- Among American Athletic Conference schools, USF will be going against much more veteran teams.

Team        Players with NCAA Experience
USF 3
Memphis                                     7
UCF 7
Cincinnati 8
Tulane 9
UConn 9
Houston                                     10
Temple 11
Tulsa 11
East Carolina 12
SMU 12

UP NEXT

USF plays host to Memphis on Saturday noon on ESPNU. The first 1,000 in the building receive a USF arm sleeve.

- #GoBulls -

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