Bulls Travel to Dallas for New Year's Eve Matchup
Matchup:Â USF (7-7, 0-1 The American) at SMU (11-3, 1-0 The American)
Date:Â Sunday, Dec. 31
Time: 8 p.m. EST
Location:Â Dallas, Texas | Moody Coliseum (7,000)
TV: ESPNU (Ted Emrich, Malcom Huckaby)
Radio:Â AM 820 | USF Bulls Unlimited (Jim Lighthall, Joey Johnston)
Follow: Listen | Stats | Twitter
TAMPA, FLA., DEC. 30, 2017 – The USF men's basketball team opens its American Athletic Conference road slate with a New Year's Eve matchup at SMU on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas.
The game marks the second conference matchup for the Bulls. USF (7-7, 0-1) opened the conference schedule with a 79-60 loss to Houston on Thursday.
Against the Cougars, USF's freshman duo of Justin Brown (Birmingham, Ala.) and David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) accounted for more than 50 percent of the scoring, collecting 31 of 60 points. Each set new career highs in points, with Collins scoring 15 to go with four assists, three rebounds, and two steals. Brown had 16 on four made threes and had a career-high seven rebounds.
For Brown, it was his second consecutive game with a new career high in points after scoring 12 against Charlotte on Dec. 21. He also made four threes in that game, which is currently his career high. Brown is 19-for-48 (39.6 percent) from beyond the arc this season. He needs only five more made threes to crack the top 10 amongst USF freshmen in a single season.
Isaiah Manderson (Bronx, N.Y.) had another strong game from the post, scoring 10 points and leading the Bulls in rebounding with eight. Manderson is averaging 9.8 points and 6.2 rebounds over the last five games to be the Bulls' second leading rebounder in that span.
The loss snapped a three game winning streak to close out nonconference play. The streak was the longest for USF since winning the first three games of the 2014-15 season.
 Â
THE OPPONENTÂ
SMU (11-3, 1-0) defeated UCF, 56-51, in their American Athletic Conference opener on Wednesday night. Shake Milton, the Mustangs' leading scorer, tied for the team lead with 14 points and dished out five assists. Milton currently sits seventh in the conference in scoring, averaging 16.9 points per game. He leads The American with 4.9 assists per game.
The matchup between USF and SMU pits the conference's top three point shooting team in SMU against the AAC's second-best three point defense in USF. SMU is shooting 42.5 percent (130-for-306) from beyond the arc this season, while USF is allowing opponents to shoot only 30.3 percent (91-for-300) from three. The Mustangs are currently eighth in the country in three point field goal percentage, while the Bulls are 37th nationally in three point defense.
The Mustangs have a familiar face to Bulls fans, with former USF guard Jahmal McMurray entering the rotation for SMU. McMurray was forced to sit out the first 11 games of this season following his transfer from USF in the middle of the 2016-17 season. In three games for the Mustangs, he is averaging 12.3 points in 21.7 minutes per game.
McMurray, now a junior, is second all-time on the USF freshman single season scoring list. He scored 500 points in his freshman campaign, the 2015-16 season. He played 33 games that season and averaged 15.2 points to pace the Bulls.
SMU head coach Tim Jankovich enters his second full season at the helm of the Mustangs. He has a 50-8 overall record as head coach in Dallas. Last season, Jankovich led SMU to a 30-5 record, including a 17-1 mark in The American. SMU took home both the regular season and tournament titles in the AAC before securing a six seed in the NCAA tournament. They return four players from that team this year, including two starters.
NOTABLES
- With a win, the Bulls would reach eight on the season, surpassing their total for the entire 2016-17 season with at least 18 games to play.
- USF is tied with Houston for the most road games played in the American Athletic Conference with four so far. The Bulls were the only AAC team to play four road games in the nonconference schedule, going 1-3 in those games.
- Stephan Jiggetts (Forestville, Md.) has 28 assists in the last five games, pacing the Bulls by 12 assists in that span. Terrence Samuel is second with 16.
- Bulls leading scorer Payton Banks (Orange, Calif.) sat out the Houston game due to illness. He is questionable for SMU.
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 10th 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.
For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.
– #GoBulls –
