By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, DEC. 15, 2018 – Standout efforts from Laquincy Rideau, Alexis Yetna and Xavier Castaneda helped the Bulls reach another important program milestone with a 76-69 victory over Appalachian State on Saturday at the Yuengling Center.

With its third straight win, USF improved to 7-2 for the first time since the 2013-14 season after holding the 14^th-best scoring offense in the nation to 18 points below its season average. Appalachian State (4-6) shot 39 percent from the floor and made just five of 22 three-point attempts after defeating USF, 84-61, last December in Boone, N.C.

Sharp-shooting Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) went 8-for-10 from the field and led three Bulls in double figures with 18 points. The redshirt junior guard added five rebounds, three steals and three assists in arguably his best game yet as a Bull.

Yetna (Paris) continued his monster non-conference campaign with a career-high 18 rebounds and 13 points in his fourth double-double of the season. USF outrebounded Appalachian State, 48-30, and dominated by an 18-6 margin in offensive boards with Yetna pulling down seven.

Castaneda scored all of his career-high 12 points after the break and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line to help USF hold off the Mountaineers in the final 1:12. The freshman guard from Chicago also tied his career high with three rebounds and added two assists.

The 14-day break between games didn't prevent USF from getting off to a fast start as the Bulls headed into halftime with a 38-29 advantage.

The Bulls took control with a 19-2 run and T.J. Lang's wide open three-pointer off a sharp pass from Michael Durr (Atlanta) pumped the lead up to 31-16 with 7:21 to play in the opening period. Rideau was red-hot in the first 20 minutes, going 5-for-7 from the field on the way to 10 points.

The Mountaineers tied things up at 40-40 less than four minutes into the second half before USF responded with a 6-0 run that included four points from Yetna. Appalachian State cut a double-digit deficit down to 69-66 with 1:39 remaining but got no closer thanks to USF sinking seven free throws down the final stretch.

Quotable
Head coach Brian Gregory's thoughts on the Bulls' seventh win of the season and his three standout performers:
"We got good basketball from a lot of different guys. We said we were going to need a total team effort. Obviously, I thought (Rideau) was tremendous the entire game to do what he did offensively with the challenge that he has every possession on defense. Xavier Castaneda, the second half he'll get highlighted because he made some shots, but I thought he was just as good in the first half, running the team and defensively. (Yetna) was off the charts."

"We had to play well and we did. The great neutralizer for us is always the rebounding, getting to the free throw line and our defensive field goal percentage. We hit the mark on all three of those today."

Alexis Yetna on the Bulls' defensive effort while limiting Appalachian State to 39 shooting from the floor and 22 percent from three:
"We did a good job in the first half guarding the three-point line. We played very well on the perimeter and inside we got rebounds, so we avoided second-chance points on their end. That was a good team defensive job tonight."

Key Stats
48 – USF finished with a 48-30 rebounding advantage, including an 18-6 edge in offensive boards.
39.3 – Appalachian State's shooting percentage (22.7 percent from three) after shooting 51.6 percent from the field in an 84-61 win over the Bulls last December.
34 – USF's points in the paint on the way to shooting 43.5 percent from the field.

Notable

• USF has started the season with a 7-2 record for the first time since 2013-14. The Bulls have won three straight games twice this season.
• Head coach Brian Gregory celebrated a victory on his 52^nd victory. Gregory is now 4-0 as a head coach when playing on his birthday, including 2-0 against Appalachian State.
• Alexis Yetna posted his fourth double-double of the season. With 18 rebounds, the redshirt freshman forward topped his previous career high of 17 set against Georgetown on Nov. 18. Yetna headed into Saturday leading The American with 9.1 rebounds per game.
• Laquincy Rideau posted a game-high three steals after ranking 19^th in the NCAA (second in AAC) with 2.5 steals per game entering Saturday.

Up Next
USF travels to Miami for a test against Florida International that's set for Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m.

The Bulls' next home game is Friday, Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. against Alcorn State. Reserve your seats at USFBullsTix.com.

To stay up-to-date on the latest USF men's' basketball news, follow the Bulls on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).

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.

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