Bulls Begin Final Road Trip Sunday at UConn

Bulls Begin Final Road Trip Sunday at UConn

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Matchup: USF (18-10, 7-7) vs. UConn (13-15, 4-11)
Date: Sunday, March 3
Time: Noon EST
Location: Storrs, Conn. | Gampel Pavilion
TV: CBS Sports Network (Brent Stover, Mike O'Donnell)
Radio: AM 820 | USF Bulls Unlimited (Jim Lighthall)
Follow: Listen | Watch | Live Stats | Twitter

TAMPA, MARCH 2, 2019 – The USF men's basketball team begins the final month of the season with a trip north to Storrs, Conn., to face UConn Sunday at noon from Gampel Pavilion for a matchup broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.  

USF (18-9, 7-7) will aim for the season sweep of the Huskies after opening AAC play with a 76-68 victory Jan. 2 at the Yuengling Center. USF redshirt guard Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) scored 25 points and added eight rebounds to lead a trio of Bulls in double figures. Sophomore David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) poured in 17 points and six rebounds, while redshirt freshman Alexis Yetna (Paris) had 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.

Collins finished with 10 points Wednesday against UCF, and has scored in double figures in seven straight games and leads USF with 15.1 points per game. Collins adds 2.0 steals per game and has made 142 free throws to rank fifth on the school's single-season list.

Rideau ranks second on the team with 13.1 points per game and leads The American with 2.9 steals per game and 5.6 assists per game. Rideau ranks seventh in the NCAA in steals and is attempting to become the first player in AAC history to lead the league in both assists and steals in the same season.

Yetna scores 11.9 points per game and tops the league with 9.5 rebounds per game and ranks 27th in the NCAA. He also paces the conference with 10 double-doubles and is 23rd in the NCAA with 3.3 offensive rebounds per game.

THE OPPONENT
UConn (13-15, 4-11) has lost six straight games after a buzzer-beater defeat Thursday evening at Wichita State, leaving the Huskies winless since a 76-52 home victory Feb. 3 over ECU. UConn ranks third in The American in scoring with 74.9 points per game and is also third with a .353 three-point field goal percentage.

Senior guard Jalen Adams paces the UConn offense with 17.0 points per game but has missed the last five games with an injury. Junior guard Christian Vital adds 13.8 points per game, ranks first on the team with 5.9 rebounds per game and is shooting a team-best 40.3 percent from three-point range. Sophomore Alterique Gilbert also scores in double figures with 12.9 points per game.

QUOTABLE
Head coach Brian Gregory on the matchup with UConn:
"We played them really well when we faced them here to start off league play, but they had us in a big hole early. They present a lot of problems. They have great guards with great quickness, and the big guys inside block a lot of shots at the rim. They just went on the road Thursday and lost a tough one at Wichita State. Even though they have lost some games this year, when you look at the score you see that they've been in every game. We're on the road and we've got to play better and take care of the basketball. We haven't defended as well of late and I know we're going to have in order to have a chance on Sunday and then down the stretch and into the league tournament."
 
NOTABLE
• USF is 3-20 against UConn in the all-time series that dates back to the 1972-73 season.  
• USF is four victories away from tying the single-season school record for wins (22).
• 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 (10) than six teams in The American.
• Laquincy Rideau ranks seventh in the NCAA and first in The American with 2.9 steals per game. 
• Alexis Yetna leads The American and ranks 26th in the NCAA with 9.5 rebounds per game.
• USF is ranked 10th in the NCAA and second in The American with a +7.1 rebounding margin.
• USF has taken the most free throw attempts in the NCAA (786) and has made the 10th-most in the NCAA (501).
• Laquincy Rideau looks to become the first player in AAC history to lead in assists and steals in the same season.
• USF junior forward Antun Maricevic is shooting 80.0 percent (12-for-15) from the field over his last three games. 
• USF is 11 free throws attempts away from setting a new single-season school record with 797. 

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. 

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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