By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, NOV. 30, 2018 – USF made it a November to remember by tying the program record for wins in the month with six after rallying past Colgate, 73-63, at the Yuengling Center on Friday night.

USF (6-2) tied the 2009-10 Bulls squad for the program's most November wins by shutting down Colgate's long-range attack in the second half and scoring 26 points off 20 turnovers by the Raiders (5-3).

Sophomore David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) led the way with 20 points and snagged four of USF's 11 steals to help the Bulls move even closer to matching the program's total of 10 wins last season.

Redshirt freshman forward Alexis Yetna (Paris) extended his double-digit scoring streak to six games with 14 points. Tied at 53-53, USF seized the momentum with a 7-0 run that was capped off by Yetna's three-pointer and layup off a Collins steal.

Sophomore Justin Brown (Birmingham, Ala.) also was clutch down the stretch, going on his own 6-0 run to tie the game at 51-51 and finishing with nine points.

Redshirt junior Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) added 12 points and matched Collins with a game-high four steals despite playing only nine minutes of the second half because of foul trouble.

The unsung hero of the night was Xavier Castaneda (Chicago), who scored three points but played 14 important second-half minutes on defense. The freshman guard put the clamps on leading Colgate scorer Jordan Burns, who had just three points in the second half after pouring in 14 before the break.

Castaneda and the Bulls flipped the script on defense in the second half after trailing by two at the break. Colgate went 8-for-18 from long range in the opening half but made just three of 12 three-point attempts the rest of the way. The Raiders shot 30.4 percent from the field in the second half while being outscored, 39-27.

Quotable
Head coach Brian Gregory on the Bulls' tying a program record with their sixth win in November:
"It's a great milestone for us because it shows that we are making progress and we are trying to do it the right way, and doing it with a bunch of new guys. You take those, those are markers along the way that you can sell to your guys, 'Look, this is what we're doing.' It's a long road from where we were at to where we want to get to, but there's got to be steps along the way."
 
Gregory on the keys to the Bulls rallying to victory in the second half:
"We beat a good team tonight and we did a lot of good things. It kind of shows how we need to win games. We hung close, even when we weren't playing as well. We didn't panic when they were making some threes in the first half. I did not think our defense was where it needed to be in the first half and the numbers proved it, but we weren't too far off. We needed a little bit more disciplined ball pressure. We needed a little more activity off the ball. We needed to limit them to one shot and we got that in the second half."

Key Stats
30.4 – Colgate's shooting percentage in the second half (7-for-23 from field) after the Raiders shot 46.4 percent in the opening half.
26 off 20 – The Bulls scored 26 points off 20 Colgate turnovers.
11 – USF grabbed 11 steals as David Collins and Laquincy Rideau finished with four apiece.
3-for-12 – Colgate's success rate from three-point range in the second half after going 8-for-18 in the first.

Notable

• USF tied the 2009-10 Bulls team for the school record for most wins in the month of November with six. Last season, USF didn't win its sixth game until Dec. 18.
• USF won its first-ever meeting with Colgate and improved to 7-3 all-time against schools in the Patriot League.
• Alexis Yetna scored in double figures for the sixth straight game. He's averaging 14 points and 8.7 rebounds during his hot six-game stretch.
• David Collins scored at least 20 points for the fourth time in the past five games. The sophomore is averaging 16.8 points this season.

Up Next
Following a four-game home stand, USF returns to the road to take on Charlotte on Sunday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m.

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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 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. 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.

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