By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

DALLAS, FEB. 7, 2019 – David Collins sank a go-ahead three with six seconds remaining as USF stunned SMU, 67-66, Thursday night at Moody Coliseum.

Collins' clutch shot helped USF (16-6, 6-4 in AAC) extend its winning streak to four games, the Bulls' longest string of victories in league play since the magical 2011-12 season in the Big East. USF also improved to 10 games above .500 for the first time since March 1992.

Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) set up his game-winning shot with another three that tied the game at 64-64 with 1:12 remaining. The sophomore guard finished his heroic outing with a game-high 23 points and made three of USF's season-high 11 threes.

Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) added 14 points, nine assists and six rebounds while making program history with his defense. The redshirt junior guard became USF's new single-season steals leader with 69 thanks to a takeaway in the opening half.

USF was without the services of star forward Alexis Yetna (Paris), who sat out with an injury. Freshman Michael Durr (Atlanta) stepped up with eight points and grabbed a loose ball to help set up Collins' game-winning shot.

Thursday's back-and-forth first half featured 10 lead changes and USF seized the momentum just before the break with a 9-0 run that spotted the Bulls a 39-35 advantage.

Rideau sank one of his career high-tying four first-half threes during the late surge and led the Bulls with 13 points at the break on top of totaling six assists. Rideau also set the USF single-season steals record in the opening period.

Collins scored five of his 10 first-half points in the final two minutes and made four of his first seven shots. USF went 52 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes and knocked down seven threes.

Xavier Castaneda's steal-and-score put the Bulls up by eight with 5:08 remaining in the second half before SMU (12-10, 4-6 in AAC) went on an 11-0 run and took a 64-61 lead with 1:27 to play.

Collins's second three of the game tied things up with 1:12 to play and his third bucket from long range, off a nice pass from Rideau, gave the Bulls the game-sealing bucket with six seconds to go.

Quotable
Head coach Brian Gregory on the Bulls' plan that set up the game-winning play:
"We set up a play to get a three, if it was available. We weren't going to force one. If they overplayed it, then we were going to try to attack the basket. That's what we did the play before and David did a pretty good job."

Gregory on the Bulls' gutsy victory:
"That stats are going to show that we didn't do things that we normally do very well, but you're on the road and you're playing a very good team that plays very, very well at home. We're flying back to Tampa with a big road win."

Key Stats
47.3 – USF's shooting percentage from the field, including a 44-percent success rate from long range.
11 – The Bulls set a season high with 11 three-pointers. Laquincy Rideau sank four of them while David Collins made two of his three in the final 1:12.
2:23 – SMU went without a field goal for the final 2:23.
 
Notables

• Success on Thursday night extended USF's winning streak to four games for the first time since the 2011-12 season. USF (16-6) already has six more wins than last season with nine more games to go before the conference tournament.
• Laquincy Rideau now owns USF's single-season steals record with 69. Leon Smith previously held the program's top season steals mark with 68 in 1973-74. Rideau headed into this week's action leading the nation with 3.2 steals per game.
• The Bulls defeated the Mustangs in Dallas for the first time since Nov. 13, 2009. USF and SMU will meet again in the Bulls' regular season finale that's set for Sunday, March 10 at the Yuengling Center.
• David Collins matched his season high with 23 points.
• Alexis Yetna (Paris) missed Thursday's game with an injury after being listed as "day-to-day" by Gregory on Wednesday. Yetna headed into this week's action ranked 21^st in the NCAA with 10 double-doubles and 22^nd and rebounds per game (9.8), both conference bests.

Up Next
USF returns to the Yuengling Center to host East Carolina on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. (TV: ESPN3). Reserve your seats at USFBullsTix.com.
 
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.

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