By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

ORLANDO, MARCH 8, 2018 – David Collins ended his freshman season in fantastic fashion with a career-high 30 points in no-quit USF's 79-77 loss to fifth-seeded Memphis in the opening round of the Aaron's American Athletic Conference Championship on Thursday.

Collins went 11-for-13 from the field after starting 8-for-8 to become just the fifth freshman in USF history to reach the 30-point mark. The conference's all-rookie team selection poured in 21 points after the break and finished just three points shy of Radenko Dobras' USF freshman game scoring record in 1989.

USF (10-22) trailed by 15 points with less than nine minutes remaining and nearly tied it up with a furious rally. Graduate guard Stephan Jiggetts finished with 16 points and made it a three-point game with a bucket from beyond the arc with 21 seconds left. Jiggetts had a chance to tie the game, but his three-point attempt narrowly missed with five seconds remaining.

Isaiah Manderson (Bronx, N.Y.) added nine points and tied for the team high with five rebounds to help the Bulls finish with a 31-29 edge on the boards. USF was efficient offensively, shooting 50 percent from the field and scored 21 points off 14 turnovers by Memphis (20-12).

USF never trailed in its 75-51 win at Memphis a week ago but found itself in catch-up mode from the start of Thursday's conference clash.

Memphis scored the first eight points of the game, but USF kept things close early by responding with an 11-5 run. The Tigers ended up shooting 61 percent on the way to a 38-29 halftime advantage.

Despite the deficit, USF's offense was solid in the first half, shooting 44 percent and matching Memphis' 16 points in the paint. Jiggetts led the way with 10 points and Collins was up to nine points after starting 4-for-4 from the field.

Collins improved to 7-for-7 from the field early after the break and his highlight reel, reverse layup cut the Memphis lead to 45-39. Trailing by 15 with 9:36 to play, the Bulls dropped their deficit to seven twice down in the next three minutes and were down, 74-70, with four minutes to play after a three-pointer by Jiggetts.

After Jiggetts' final three-pointer, freshman Justin Brown (Birmingham, Ala.) made a free throw and intentionally missed another with less than a second left before USF ran out of time for a tip-in attempt.

Quotable
Head coach Brian Gregory's thoughts on the game:
"It was a great game. Give Memphis a lot of credit, I thought they played with great energy today, shot the ball really well, and at the same time give our guys credit for continuing to fight with the effort and the energy. I thought it was just a very well-played game. They got some big baskets from some guys that have made big plays for them all yearlong in Davenport and Brewton."

Gregory on the fight USF showed in the game and the way the Bulls ended the season in impressive fashion:
"I think our guys deserve a lot of credit for the way they finished out the year, the toughness that they played with. We did a good job on the glass, which was something we needed to do. We did a good job in terms of attacking their pressure defense. It's tough, it's a bitter pill to swallow when you're playing pretty good basketball and you want to continue to play and it ends. As I talked about in the last game, we have a lot to build on from some of the stuff we did this year. It's going to be a hard road, but I think we've got the right guys to go there. I think the guys like Jiggetts and the other seniors that are leaving did a great job of setting a really solid foundation."

Gregory on freshman David Collins' show-stealing performance:
"He's got a chance to be a great player in this league. His best attributes are he's coachable and he works hard. When you add that to the baseline of talent that he has, it's a pretty good combination… He made good play after good play."

Key Stats
59 – Memphis' field goal percentage after shooting 60.9 percent in the first half.
48 – USF outscored Memphis, 48-41, after the break to nearly force overtime.
12-for-22 – USF's second-half shooting percentage from the free throw line, which hampered the comeback attempt.
 
Notable

• USF finished its first season under head coach Brian Gregory with 10 victories, which marked the program's most since winning 12 in 2013-14.
• David Collins posted USF's first 30-point game since Jahmal McMurray scored 30 against Houston on Jan. 23, 2016. Collins finished his season with consecutive 20-plus point outings.
• USF finished the season with a 9-5 record when outrebounding its opponents. The Bulls outrebounded Memphis by a 31-29 margin.

 
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.

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