TAMPA, FEB. 24, 2018 – The Bulls tried to mount a comeback in the second half but came up short, falling to Tulane 79-68 on Saturday afternoon. USF split the season series with the Green Wave 1-1 after taking the game in New Orleans on Jan. 25.

Freshman David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) led the Bulls in scoring for the third straight game. The fearless freshman extended his double-digit streak to seven games, finishing with 17 points on 5-for-8 from the field. The seven-game streak ties the longest of the season by the Bulls, set by both Payton Banks and Stephan Jiggetts earlier this season. Collins got off to a hot start, scoring nine points in the first half on 3-of-4 from the field.

Fellow freshman Justin Brown (Birmingham, Ala.) also had a strong opening frame, scoring seven points on 3-of-4 from the field in 15 minutes. Brown finished the noon matinee with nine points.

Stephan Jiggetts (Forestville, Md.) was second in scoring, finishing with 14 points on 5-for-10 from the field. He added two rebounds and three assists.

After being held scoreless in Tulsa, Isaiah Manderson (Bronx, N.Y.) bounced back in a big way, scoring 12 points with four rebounds. Manderson was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

Payton Banks (Orange, Calif.) was the fourth Bull in double figures, scoring 10. Banks added five rebounds to lead the Bulls on the glass. He also had three steals.

As a team, the Bulls shot 46.4 percent (13-for-28) in the second half, including 6-for-11 (54.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Quotable
Head coach Brian Gregory on the Bulls' overall performance:
"Not an energetic enough effort from our guys today. Defensive effort wasn't where it needs to be. Rebounding effort wasn't where it needs to be. We had some guys that did some good things, but we need multiple guys doing a lot of good things. I thought we defended better in the second half, moved the ball offensively better in the second half, but we just put ourselves in too big of a hole again."

Key Stats
8-for-8 – The Bulls were a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the second half.
23.5 – USF held Tulane to 23.5 percent (4-for-17) from three. Tulane was shooting 35.6 percent from beyond the arc entering the game and making an average of 7.9 threes per contest.

Notable

• Stephan Jiggetts finished in double figures for a team-leading 19^th time this season. He has 63 career double digit scoring games.
• David Collins is up to 10 games in double figures for his freshman season.
• Over the course of his seven game double figure streak, Collins is averaging a team-high 14.6 points per game.
• Payton Banks needs just 16 points to become the second Bull to reach 1,000 career points this season. Stephan Jiggetts reached the milestone earlier in the season.

Up Next
The Bulls travel to Memphis for their last regular season road game on Thursday night. USF will take on the Tigers at 9 p.m. on ESPNews.
 
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.