COLUMBIA, S.C., DEC. 5, 2015 – USF outscored South Carolina by 13 points in the second half, but the Bulls fell to the Gamecocks 81-63 in front of a crowd of 10,721 at Colonial Life Arena on Saturday.

South Carolina (8-0) jumped out to a 21-2 lead just over six minutes into the game and cruised to 53-22 lead at the half. USF (2-7) fell behind by as many as 36 points, 61-25 with 17:45 left to play in the game, before digging itself out of a hole. On the next possession, USF got a jumper from its leading scorer on the season, Jahmal McMurray. From there, the Bulls went on a 17-2 run that spanned nearly four minutes and trailed 63-42 with 13:47 left to play.

A layup by Bo Zeigler cut the deficit to 13 points, 75-62, with 4:09 remaining, but the Bulls connected on just two of their last 10 field goal attempts as the Gamecocks got off to their best start in 12 years.

“They gave the effort that we were supposed to play with and that I expect,” said USF head coach Orlando Antigua on the Bulls' play in the second half. “Now we have to do that for 40 minutes. That was my point to them at the end of the game. 'You've shown you're capable against an undefeated team and we have to do a better job of doing that for 40 minutes. We have to push each other and challenge each other in practice to get better.'”

USF continued a recent trend of performing well in the second half of games. In its previous three games combined, the Bulls have scored 22.0 points in the first half and 40.7 points in the second half. Someone that helped the Bulls have a good half on Saturday was Jaleel Cousins. The senior center recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds to go with three of USF's six blocks.

“He was a grown man today,” said Antigua. “He and Ruben both. They went in and made tough plays for us today.”

Guerrero finished with a season high in points with nine and rebounds with 10. McMurray joined Cousins in double-figures with 11 points as did Nehemias Morillo with 13 points.

South Carolina entered the game ranked 13^th in the nation in rebounding margin at +12.4. On Saturday, the Bulls outrebounded the Gamecocks 46-32. USF shot 37.8 percent in the second half and 35.3 percent for the game. South Carolina, which shot 60.6 percent in the first half, was held to 32.1 percent in the second half and 47.5 percent in the game.

The Bulls return to the Sun Dome for a three-game homestand that starts Sunday, Dec. 13 against NC State. Reserve your seats at USFBullsTix.com.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

The sidebar going into the game was about the matchup between Antigua and USC head coach Frank Martin, the nation's only NCAA Division I head men's basketball coaches. ESPN's Pedro Gomez did a feature on the two during the week that aired throughout the ESPN networks as well as ESPN Deportes and did special interviews with the two coaches throughout the game.

“It is a special moment to be a part of this part of the game,” said Antigua. “To do it with a guy that I think very highly of, as a mentor and a friend, is very special. Frank is someone who I've leaned on and has paved the way for me to have this opportunity.”

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.