By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA (Jan. 9, 2014) – USF has started 4-0 on the road for the first time in program history after storming back from a 10-point deficit in the second half of an 82-75 victory over Temple on Thursday night in Philadelphia.
Senior Victor Rudd tied his season high with 23 points and added 10 rebounds, Corey Allen Jr. scored 14 points and Musa Abdul-Aleem heated up from long range in the second half to finish with 10 points.Â
Abdul-Aleem's second straight 3-pointer spotted USF a 70-69 lead with 6 minutes remaining and the Bulls (10-6, 1-2) never looked back in their first American Athletic Conference victory.
"They just gave it everything they had out there. We were down three times by 10 and we stayed with it," head coach Stan Heath said. "We bended a little bit but never broke and we handled the adversity. I'm really proud of our team. It's a good win for us."
Starting point guard Anthony Collins missed his sixth straight game with a knee injury, but the Bulls got a stellar collegiate debut from the coach's son in his place. Freshman Josh Heath came off the bench to dish out five assists with no turnovers and added two points and three rebounds in 19 minutes.
"He's got really good vision out there on the floor," Stan Heath said. "He found some guys at some critical times and got us some lob dunks and some easy plays that I thought just gave us some momentum and kept things going for us."
Freshman John Egbunu fell a point shy of a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds as USF finished with a 40-30 edge on the glass. Egbunu has averaged 10.8 rebounds in his past five games.
"His rebounds are man rebounds; they're above everybody," Heath said. "He's jumping and all the sudden you see his arms go way above everybody else. He's such a high-energy guy."
Rudd secured his 14th double-digit scoring game of the season with 12 points to help the Bulls head into the break tied with Temple at 34. Heath started his college career off in stride with five assists and no turnovers.
Dalton Pepper knocked down a pair of free throws to give Temple a 22-12 lead to start with and USF responded with an 11-1 run. Rudd scored five points during the sequence and Egbunu's dunk tied the game at 23 with 5:37 to go before the break.
A strong inside game helped the Bulls keep things even by the buzzer as USF started with a 24-12 edge in points in the paint.
Temple heated up from long range at the start of the half to grab its second double-digit lead. The Owls (5-8, 0-3) knocked down three 3-pointers in the first 7 minutes and a pair of free throws by Pepper extended the advantage to 54-44 with 13:24 remaining.
Temple grabbed another 10-point lead with a 3-pointer by Anthony Lee that put the Owls ahead, 66-56, but USF responded with a long-range attack of its own. Abdul-Aleem connected on consecutive 3-pointers and his second put USF back ahead, 70-69, with 6 minutes remaining.
"He only made the two, but the two came at a big time and it gave us a big momentum swing," Heath said. "Just the threat of having a guy out there that can make a shot opens some things up from the inside and I thought it opened some things up for John and Chris (Perry)."
A three-point play by senior Martino Brock extended the lead to 75-71 with 3:17 to play and the Bulls finished the job by closing with a 7-4 run. USF's previous 3-0 start in true road games came during the 1998-99 season when it beat Texas, Duquesne and Marquette before falling at Cleveland State on Jan. 2.
USF concludes its two-game road trip Wednesday, Jan. 15 at SMU before returning to the Sun Dome to host Cincinnati on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 5 p.m. Purchase tickets HERE and stay updated on the Bulls on Twitter @USFMBB.
