TAMPA, NOV. 13, 2015 – Junior Chris Perry recorded his sixth-career double-double in USF men's basketball's 82-77 season-opening loss to Troy Friday night.

The Bartow, Fla. native recorded a career-high 17 rebounds and scored 13 points in his first regular season game since Jan. 22, 2015. He missed the last 13 games of his sophomore season with a health issue.

Freshman Jahmal McMurray poured in 21 points in his USF debut and went 5-of-15 from 3-point range.

USF (0-1) shot 47.4 percent in the first half and built a 14-point lead, its largest of the game, with 3:11 remaining in the first. The Bulls led 49-44 at the half.

“We've got to learn that when we have an advantage, we have to keep playing,” said head coach Orlando Antigua. “Especially in the first half when there is so much time left in the game. You don't get away from the things you're having success doing and we got away from that. Give them (Troy) credit. They made some plays and some shots. They crashed the boards and were more physical than we were.”

USF committed 17 turnovers in the game, which led to 30 points by the Trojans, who improved to 1-0 on the season. The Bulls were 10-of-31 from 3-point range, which is the most threes attempted since 31 vs. Cal in 2009.

“That was entirely too much,” said Antigua. “That's not what we want to be doing when we have a size advantage.”

USF ran into foul trouble in the second half and trailed by seven points with 7:30 remaining. Two of Angel Nunez' 18 points gave the Bulls a 74-73 lead with 2:33 left in the game. Troy's Jeremy Hollimon scored a layup, two of his team-high 21 points, to give the Trojans the lead for good. Overall, USF was outscored 38-28 in the period.  

“They were very active and we didn't look like a very well-coached team out there,” said Antigua. “That falls on me and the staff. It has to get corrected very quickly and it will.”

USF continues a string of four games in nine days with its second game of the season on Monday at 7 p.m. against NJIT.

The USF men's basketball team returns seven from last season's team including regular starters Ruben Guerrero, Chris Perry, Nehemias Morillo and Bo Zeigler. Orlando Antigua is in his second season as the head coach after spending the previous five season as an assistant to Naismith Hall of Fame coach John Calipari. USF's schedule is comprised of nine teams which had an RPI of 54 or better last season. The Bulls host 19 games, five of those teams made the NCAA Tournament last season.