Bulls Face Road Test Saturday at No. 8 Houston
Matchup: USF (18-8, 7-6) vs. Houston (25-1, 12-1)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 23
Time: 6 p.m. EST
Location: Houston | Fertitta Center
TV: ESPN2 (Ted Emrich, Tim McCormick)
Radio: AM 820 | USF Bulls Unlimited (
Jim Lighthall)
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TAMPA, FEB. 22, 2019 – The USF men's basketball team will play its final road game in the month of February on Saturday at 6 p.m. (EST) when the Bulls travel to No. 8 Houston for a matchup broadcast live on ESPN2.
USF (18-8, 7-6) enters the weekend coming off a 95-54 victory over Florida College on Tuesday in a game that took the place of the Bulls' regularly scheduled matchup at Charlotte that was cancelled on Dec. 9 due to Winter Storm Diego. USF has already won eight more games than it did all of last year and is four wins shy of tying the school record for the most single-season victories.
Five Bulls scored in double figures Tuesday against Florida College, including a career-high 16 points and nine rebounds from junior
Antun Maricevic (Zagreb, Croatia). Junior
Mayan Kiir (Bradenton, Fla.) added 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench and freshman
Rashun Williams (Arlington, Ga.) finished with a career-high 14 points to go along with three rebounds and three assists.
Sophomore guard
David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) continues to serve as the offensive catalyst for USF and leads the team with 15.4 points per game. Collins has scored at least 20 points in four of his last five games and ranks 12th in The American in scoring. He also averages 2.1 steals per game and ranks 30th in the NCAA and fourth in the league.Â
Redshirt junior
Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) ranks second on the team with 13.8 points per game and scored 16 points against Temple on Feb. 16 to reach 1,000 for his career. Rideau is also one of the top defenders and distributors in the NCAA, ranking sixth nationally with 3.0 steals per game, and 32nd in the nation with 5.7 assists per game.Â
Redshirt freshman
Alexis Yetna (Paris) stands third on the team with 12.2 points per game while leading The American with 9.9 rebounds per game. Yetna also ranks 14th in the NCAA with 3.5 offensive rebounds per game and has pulled down a league-leading 10 double-doubles. Â Â
THE OPPONENT
Houston (25-1, 12-1) has won 10 straight games and sits atop the league standings with a game lead over Cincinnati. The Cougars are a perfect 17-0 at home this season and own the nation's longest home winning streak at 32. As a team, Houston ranks first in The American in scoring defense by limiting teams to only 60.3 points per game. Additionally, the Cougars top the conference in three-point defense by holding opponents to 27.2 percent from beyond the arc.
Senior guard Corey Davis Jr. leads the Houston offense with 15.7 points per game while junior Armoni Brooks adds 14.1 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game. Senior guard Galen Robinson Jr. paces Houston with 5.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Brian Gregory on the matchup with Houston:
"They're very good. Obviously, at this point they've separated themselves at the top team in our league, and I think nationally they are about as good as anybody. They are a Final Four-caliber team. They have the experience, they have the size, they have the depth, and their perimeter players have been playing extremely well over the last few weeks. They get great production from every spot on the floor, so you have to play very, very well to beat them. You have to be great defensively, you have to be great on the glass and you have to do a really good job offensively when you get open shots. There is a reason they are at where they are at right now, because they are as good defensively and rebound as well as any team around."
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NOTABLE
• USF is 12-17 against Houston in the all-time series that dates back to the 1976-77 season.
• USF is in search of its first win over a ranked team since defeating No. 19 Louisville on Feb. 29, 2012.
• USF is the only school in the NCAA to have its conference leader in rebounds, assists and steals.
• USF sophomore
David Collins is averaging 19.8 points and shooting 53.7 percent over his last five games.
• USF redshirt freshman
Alexis Yetna has more double-doubles (10) than seven teams in The American.
•
Laquincy Rideau ranks sixth in the NCAA and first in The American with 3.0 steals per game.Â
•
Alexis Yetna leads The American and ranks 23rd in the NCAA with 9.9 rebounds per game.
• USF has taken the most free throw attempts in the NCAA with 730 and has made the 10th-most in the NCAA (465).
•
Laquincy Rideau looks to become the first player in AAC history to lead in assists and steals in the same season.
• USF is 25-3 all-time under
Brian Gregory when leading by 10 points at any time during a game.
• Five of USF's eight losses are by three points or less and the Bulls' eight losses are by an average of 5.3 points.
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 10th 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.Â
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.
To stay up-to-date on the latest USF men's' basketball news, follow the Bulls on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).
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