By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, DEC. 29, 2018 – USF showed more signs of progress under head coach Brian Gregory by withstanding a furious Fairleigh Dickinson second-half rally and extending its winning streak to six with a 60-54 victory at the Yuengling Center on Saturday.

USF (10-2) heads into conference play with six straight wins for the first time since early in the 2007-08 season and has equaled its entire 2017-18 season wins total. Accomplishing those feats wasn't easy for the Bulls, who saw a 17-point lead in the first half turn into a three-point deficit with 8:40 remaining.

Five ties followed before USF closed the game on a 6-0 run, all on free throws, and got defensive stops on the final three full possessions by Fairleigh Dickinson (5-7).

Sophomore Justin Brown (Birmingham, Ala.) provided the go-ahead free throw with 36 seconds left, finishing with 12 points and grabbing half of his six total rebounds in the final two minutes.

Redshirt freshman Alexis Yetna (Paris) registered his sixth double-double of the season with a team-high 16 points and game-high 16 rebounds - seven on the offensive end. Yetna's final layup marked USF's last field goal of the game with 6:57 remaining.

Sophomore David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) returned to double figures with 10 points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds in addition to his team-leading two steals. Collins gave the Bulls a two-point lead with 24 seconds remaining and helped secure the win with two more free throws 20 seconds later.

Eight days in between action didn't prevent USF from jumping out to a fast start as Brown scored five points during a game-opening 11-0 run. Four straight points from Antun Maricevic (Zagreb, Croatia) during another 7-0 run extended the advantage to 18-3 before USF headed into halftime with a 33-23 lead.

USF led by as many as 17 points before the break but found itself trailing more than midway through the second half after a 15-0 Fairleigh Dickinson run. Brown's three-pointer forced the first of five more ties prior to the Bulls reaching 10 wins with six important free throws in the final minute.

Quotable
Head coach Brian Gregory's thoughts on the victory and reaching 10-2 before heading into conference play:
"I'm proud of the guys. The last three full possessions, we got three straight stops. Justin Brown and his effort and his energy saved the day with the offensive rebounds. We made just enough free throws down the stretch and made just enough plays to win the game. We're 10-2. You get to 10-2 because you have 10-2 habits and 10-2 behavior, and that's what we've done. As you move into conference play, that has to improve and increase."

Justin Brown on the progress the program has made at this point:
"While we have won 10 games, like we did all of last year, we're happy but we're not satisfied. We want to keep winning and build a winning culture at this school."  

Key Stats
47 – USF dominated on the glass by a 47-24 margin, including a 17-6 edge in offensive rebounds.
10 – The Bulls equaled their entire 2017-18 season total with their 10^th win before conference play.
6 – Alexis Yetna posted his sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 16 rebounds.
3 – Three defensive stops on Fairleigh Dickinson's final three full possessions paved the way for the victory.

Notable

• The 2018-19 USF team became just the sixth squad in school history to reach 10 wins in its first 12 games.
• USF totaled at least 40 rebounds for the seventh time this season.
• Alexis Yetna posted 16 rebounds after heading into Saturday ranked first in The American and 12^th nationally with 10.5 boards per game.
• Justin Brown is averaging 11.4 points in his past five games while shooting 55 percent from the field and 47.6 percent from long range.

Up Next
The Bulls begin conference play with a home game against UConn on Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 8:30 p.m. Reserve your seats at USFBullsTix.com.
 
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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.

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