NEW ORLEANS, La., JAN. 25, 2018 – The Bulls started their two-game road trip on a high note, defeating Tulane 80-75 on Thursday night. The win is the first American Athletic Conference victory for Brian Gregory as head coach of the Bulls. It also gives USF eight wins on the season, one more than their total from the entire 2016-17 season.

Tulane (12-8, 3-5 AAC) scored the first basket of the game, but USF (8-13, 1-7 AAC) scored 10 straight points from there and never relinquished the lead. In all, the Bulls led for 38:42 in the game.

Individually, all eight Bulls that played scored a point. They were led by the first career double-doubles for Payton Banks (Orange, Calif.) and Terrence Samuel (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Samuel led the Bulls on the glass with 12 boards. He added 16 points. Banks had 14 points and 10 rebounds. The game marks the first time the Bulls had two players with 10-plus rebounds since March 4, 2015 against UCF.

Stephan Jiggetts (Forestville, Md.) led the Bulls in scoring with a season-high 23 points. It is the fourth 20-plus point performance for Jiggetts this season and the 14^th time in his career he has surpassed the mark. He added five assists, a block, and a steal on the night.

Justin Brown (Birmingham, Ala.) was the fourth USF player to reach double digits, finishing with an even 10 points. He also tied his career high with seven rebounds.

As a team, the Bulls dominated the glass with 42 rebounds, compared to 33 for the Green Wave. From the field, USF shot 49.0 percent (24-for-49) and held Tulane to 41.3 percent (26-for-63), including only 32.1 percent (9-for-28) from three.
 
Quotable
Head Coach Brian Gregory on the game:
"We did a lot of good things. We really did. Give our guys a lot of credit. You talk about the building blocks that we have to have in the situation we're in, resiliency is a great characteristic to have. I felt good about our preparation going into the game, and our guys proved me right."

"When you're able to win these games, so many times it's going to be on our seniors. I thought Payton played really well, Terrence played exceptionally well. We rebounded really well, we defended really well."

Guard Terrence Samuel on what the was thinking when he needed two free throws at the end:
"'I have to make these two.' I don't know what was going through my mind, but I was still confident. I was thinking the next shot was going in."

Key Stats
37 – The Bulls attempted 37 free throws in the game, including 32 in the second half. USF made 23 from the line.
40 – Stephan Jiggetts played all 40 minutes in the game, the first time since Nov. 22, 2016 that a USF player has played every minute.
 
Notable

• The win is the first win outside of the state of Florida for the Bulls since Dec. 1, 2016 at Troy.
• The victory also gives USF its first conference road win since Feb. 16, 2016 at ECU.
• The Bulls led by as much as 23 with seven minutes remaining in the game before Tulane roared back. Terrence Samuel iced the game with two clutch free throws to extend the USF lead to five.
• For the second time this season, Stephan Jiggetts played more 40 or more minutes in a game and did not turn the ball over. Jiggetts played every minute tonight and did not record a turnover. He also accomplished the feat on Nov. 30 in the overtime game at Elon, when he played 41 minutes.

Up Next
The Bulls will look to make it a perfect road trip when they travel to Houston on Sunday afternoon. USF will take on the Cougars in a 3 p.m. game that will be broadcast live 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.

For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.
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