TAMPA, NOV. 21, 2018 – Alexis Yetna (Paris, France) scored 15 points and added 10 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double to lead USF to a 69-59 victory over Florida A&M Wednesday evening at the Yuengling Center.
Yetna scored 11 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds Sunday against Georgetown and leads the American Athletic Conference with 9.6 rebounds per game.
David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) added 21 points, four assists and two steals for his second straight game of at least 20 points.
Michael Durr tied a career-high with 11 rebounds to help the Bulls outrebound Florida A&M 42-28.
Justin Ravenel led Florida A&M with 14 points and made three 3-pointers, while both D.J. Jones and Rod Melton added 12 points for a Rattlers team that suffered its seventh straight loss to USF.
USF and Florida A&M went back-and-forth for the opening 16 minutes of the first half before the Bulls used an 8-1 run over the final 3:07 to build a 36-27 lead at halftime.
A three-pointer by Collins just over five minutes into the second half gave USF it's largest lead at 44-30. Florida A&M pulled within five points on a trey from Ravenel at the 6:33 mark, but the Bulls responded with a 9-0 run that included seven points from Collins to extend their advantage back to 14 points.
Quotable
"We had a lot of looks right around the basket that we have to finish, but our guys found a way to win. I was very pleased with our work on the glass. I challenged
Michael Durr at halftime and he responded with 11 rebounds in the second half after none in the first half. We did just enough to win the game, but we have a lot of work to do if we're going to get better at the stuff we need to improve on." – USF Head Coach
Brian Gregory.
Key Stats
42 – USF outrebounded Florida A&M 42-28.
17 – USF finished with 17 assists.
38 – USF scored 38 points in the paint.
20 – USF turned 16 Florida A&M turnovers into 20 points.
18 – USF finished with 18 offensive rebounds and limited Florida A&M to only four.
30 – USF shot 30 free throws and finished with 13 more attempts than Florida A&M.
Notables
- USF begins a season with a 4-1 record for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
- USF improves to 9-4 all-time against Florida A&M and has won the last seven meetings.
- USF is now 9-4 at home against non-conference competition under head coach Brian Gregory.
- USF entered play first in The American in three-point field goal defense and held Florida A&M to 35.3 percent.
- David Collins hit three 3-pointers and is shooting 45.0 percent from beyond the arc.
- USF had seven more steals and has either tied or finished with more steals than all five of its opponents.
Up Next
USF continues a four-game homestand Saturday at 2 p.m. when the Bulls welcome The Citadel to the Yuengling Center for a matchup broadcast live on ESPN3.
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About USF Men's Basketball
The USF men's basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory. On March 22, 2017, 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. In his first season at the helm of the Bulls, Gregory led the team to its first 10-plus win season since 2013-14.
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.
