Bulls Face UConn in AAC Tournament Opener
Matchup: USF (19-12, 8-10) vs. UConn (15-16, 6-12)
Date: Thursday, March 14
Time: 1 p.m. EST
Location: Memphis, Tenn. | FedEx Forum
TV: ESPNU (Mike Corey, Tim Welsh)
Radio: AM 820 | USF Bulls Unlimited (
Jim Lighthall)
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TAMPA, MARCH 12, 2019 – The USF men's basketball team begins postseason play Thursday at 1 p.m. (EST) when the eighth-seeded Bulls face No. 9 seed UConn in the opening round of the American Athletic Conference Tournament at FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn.
USF (19-12) and UConn will matchup for the third time this season and for the third time in conference tournament history. The Bulls won game one earlier this season behind 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals from redshirt junior guard
Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.). Rideau is second on the team with 12.9 points per game and leads The American with 5.5 assists and 2.9 steals per game. He was named The American Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday and also secured a spot on the All-Conference Third Team.
UConn (15-16) took game two earlier this month and used 16 points and nine rebounds from Josh Carlton en route to a 60-58 victory. Sophomore
David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) scored 17 points and dished out four assists for the Bulls. Overall, Collins leads USF with 15.3 points per game and stands 20th in the NCAA with 170 made free throws, which is also good for the third-most in school history and fifth-most in conference history. On Monday, Collins was named to the All-Conference Third Team to join Rideau as the only two Bulls in school history to be selected all-conference in The American.
AAC Freshman of the Year
Alexis Yetna (Paris) added 15 points and eight rebounds in the last game against UConn and enters the postseason tops in The American in rebounding (9.6 rpg) and double-doubles (11). Yetna also stands third on USF with 12.1 points per game and was named a unanimous selection to The American All-Freshman Team. His 277 rebounds thus far this season are the second-most by a freshman in conference history and his 9.6 rebounds per game stands as the second-best single-season average among any player in league history. Â
THE OPPONENT
UConn (15-16) has won two of its last three games after closing the regular season with an 82-73 win Sunday at ECU to claim its first road win of the season. The Huskies had lost six in a row before their victory over USF on March 3. As a team, UConn is fourth in The American in scoring with 74.5 points per game.
Senior guard Jalen Adams paces the UConn offense with 16.9 points per game and returned from injury Sunday to score 13 points to go along with 12 assists against the Pirates. Fellow guard Christian Vital adds 14.1 points per game and had made a team-high 72 three-pointers, while Carlton is tops on the team with 6.0 rebounds per game.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Brian Gregory on the matchup with UConn:
"Polley has been shooting the ball extremely well for them over the last few games, but the big change for them has been Carlton inside. He's been tremendous. You just see him starting to blossom in the new system, and the last three games he's averaging over 20 points a game. He's rebounding the ball well on the offensive end and he hurt us in the first half in the game in Storrs. They are dynamic on the perimeter and they are dynamic in transition. Jalen Adams played the other day and he was sensational and he's one of the best guards in the league. We have to do a great job in our transition defense and we've got to guard the post because that's a new dimension to their offense."
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NOTABLE
• USF is 3-21 against UConn in the all-time series that dates back to the 1972-73 season.
• USF has won nine more games than it did last year and is tied for the sixth-best win improvement in the NCAA.
• USF is one win away from only the program's fifth 20-win season and first since the 2011-12 season.
•
Laquincy Rideau is the first player in USF history to win a Defensive Player of the Year award.Â
• USF is the only school in the NCAA to have its conference leader in rebounds, assists and steals.
• USF redshirt freshman
Alexis Yetna has more double-doubles (11) than six teams in The American.
•
Laquincy Rideau ranks seventh in the NCAA and first in The American with 2.9 steals per game.Â
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Alexis Yetna leads The American and ranks 27th in the NCAA with 9.6 rebounds per game.
• USF is ranked 10th in the NCAA and second in The American with a +7.4 rebounding margin.
• USF has attempted the most free throws in the NCAA (860) and has made the sixth-most in the NCAA (551).
•
Laquincy Rideau looks to become the first player in AAC history to lead in assists and steals in the same season.
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Laquincy Rideau already holds the American Athletic Conference single-season steals record with 80.  • USF ranks fifth in the NCAA with 14.3 offensive rebounds per game.
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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