By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, NOV. 13, 2017 – Terrence Samuel scored nine of his team-high 13 points in the second half, but USF couldn't heat up after the break in a 63-53 loss to Morgan State on Monday night.

Eyeing its first 2-0 start since the 2014-15 season, USF (1-1) shot 34.8 percent from the field and was in comeback mode for more than 31 minutes in the programs' second-ever meeting.

Samuel, a grad transfer from Penn State, posted his first double-digit scoring game with the Bulls and tied for the team lead with seven rebounds. Tulio Da Silva (Formiga, Brazil) finished in double figures for the second straight game with 11 points after going 5-for-10 from the field.

Coming off a career-high 20-point outing, Da Silva powered USF early with seven points in a back-and-forth first half that featured eight lead changes. Morgan State headed into the break with a 32-26 lead after USF went scoreless for nearly the final three minutes of the half.

Morgan State (1-1) took control in the second half with a 13-0 run that extended its advantage to 45-31 with 14 minutes remaining. Samuel's three-point play cut the deficit to 55-49 with 3:08 to play, but that's as close as USF got the rest of the way.

Quotable
Head coach Brian Gregory's opening thoughts:
"A lot of credit goes to Morgan State. They scrapped, did a great job defensively on us and played extremely hard. They were very disciplined in what they needed to get done and executed their game plan probably perfectly. They got us down and we didn't respond well. That's one of the challenges that we're going to face."

Gregory on what the Bulls need to do to respond:
"Now it's time to get down in the stance. It's time on offense to make an extra pass and knock down a big shot, or knock down a free throw. We didn't respond and that's what this game is all about. In close games, you've got to respond in positive ways and we didn't do that tonight. Hopefully we'll learn from that."

Key Stats
7-for-22: USF shot 31.8 percent from the field in the second half.
20: Morgan State grabbed 20 of its 35 total rebounds in the second half and seven of its 12 total offensive boards after the break.

Notables

• Brian Gregory remains one win away from No. 250 in his head coaching career.
• USF has gone 32-for-37 (86 percent) from the free throw line in the first two games this season.
• Malik Martin (Miami) also finished with a team-high seven rebounds, which matched his career high.
• Morgan State was picked first in the MEAC preseason poll.

Up Next
USF will travel to DeLand, Fla., to take on Stetson on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Fans can catch the game on ESPN3.

About USF Men's Basketball
The USF men's basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory. On March 22, Gregory was introduced as the 10^th head coach in program history. He previously led programs at Georgia Tech (2011-16) and Dayton (2003-11). Gregory spent nearly a decade as an assistant coach under Michigan State's Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo and helped the Spartans win the 2000 NCAA National Championship. Gregory brings nearly 250 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship, to Tampa.
USF has retired three numbers in its 47-year history: Chucky Atkins (12), Charlie Bradley (30) and Radenko Dobras (31). The Bulls have earned three NCAA tournament bids and appeared in the NIT eight times.
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