Box Score PDF |  Postgame Notes

DALLAS - Sophomore center Augustus Gilchrist had team-leading totals of 23 points and nine rebounds to guide the University of South Florida men's basketball team past SMU, 67-61, in both teams' season opener Friday night at Moody Coliseum.

The Bulls, who rallied from a 32-29 halftime deficit, also got good production from their guards. Senior Chris Howard had 14 points and seven assists, and junior Dominique Jones added 13 points and six assists.

Guard Derek Williams led the Mustangs with 19 points, and Mouhammad Faye scored 12. Papa Dia paced SMU with eight rebounds.

Junior Jarrid Famous and senior Mike Mercer contributed nine and eight points, respectively, for the Bulls. All of USF's 67 points came from the starting five. Gilchrist posted a career high with his 23-point effort. USF shot 48.9 percent from the floor, while the Mustangs posted a respectable 43.4 shooting percentage.

SMU went into halftime holding a three-point lead at 32-29, but a three by Jones nine seconds into the second half tied it up at 32-all. The Mustangs built the lead back up to five at 39-34 then against at 41-36 after a layup by Gilchrist, but USF would go on a 12-2 run as the Bulls then held a five-point lead at 48-43 with 11:55 left.

A layup by the Mustangs' Justin Haynes two and a half minutes later knotted the score at 49-49, but USF scored the game's next nine points and SMU was unable to get any closer than four points the rest of the way. The Bulls sank 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to ice the win.

The win improved USF's all-time record in season openers to 30-9, as well as 7-6 on the road. The Bulls opened their season for the second year in a row against SMU, and on the road for the first time since the 2000-01 season.

The Mustangs scored the game's first six points, but a 7-0 run got USF back into the game a little over two and a half minutes into play. Neither team was able to build more than a three-point lead until a free throw by Gilchrist with 11:56 left in the first half got the Bulls up by four at 16-12.

USF held off the Mustangs for the next six minutes, but after a Gilchrist layup at 5:17 got the lead to five at 25-20, SMU scored the next six points in the game to grab the lead back at 26-25, forcing a 30-second timeout by the Bulls. Gilchrist knocked in a tip-in with 2:29 left that put USF up by three at 29-26, but the Bulls were held scoreless the rest of the half as SMU went up by three heading into the half.

The Bulls return to Tampa for their home opener against Virginia Monday. The game will be the second half of a doubleheader with the USF women's team. Heath's squad will kick off with the Cavaliers at approximately 7:30 p.m., or half an hour after the women's game.