Bulls Host SMU Sunday on Senior Day
Matchup: USF (19-11, 8-9) vs. SMU (13-16, 5-12)
Date: Sunday, March 10
Time: 4 p.m. EST
Location: Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
TV: ESPNU (Drew Fellios, Mark Plansky)
Radio: AM 820 | USF Bulls Unlimited (
Jim Lighthall,
Joey Johnston)
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TAMPA, MARCH 9, 2019 – The USF men's basketball team will play its final game of the regular season Sunday at 4 p.m. when the Bulls host SMU at the Yuengling Center on Senior Day.
USF will honor seniors
T.J. Lang (Mobile, Ala.),
Ron Lubin (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and
Nikola Scekic (Belgrade, Serbie) in a ceremony prior to tip-off.
USF (19-11, 8-9) turned in a 75-70 victory over Tulane on Wednesday and enters Sunday one victory shy of its first 20-win season since 2012. A win over the Mustangs would also be the first time in program history USF has collected its 20th victory during the regular season.
Sophomore guard
Justin Brown (Birmingham, Ala.) hit five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 20 points Wednesday at Tulane to help ensure USF's best finish in The American since joining the league in 2013. The Bulls are currently tied for seventh place and can finish no worse than eighth.
Fellow sophomore
David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) also scored 20 points Wednesday against the Green Wave and leads USF and ranks 12th in the league with 15.3 points per game. Collins has also made 161 free throws this season, which ranks 22nd in the NCAA and is the second-most in a single season in AAC history.
Redshirt junior guard
Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) adds 12.9 points per game and paces The American with 5.5 assists and 2.9 steals per game. Rideau already has the most single-season steals in school history and is attempting to become the first player in conference history to lead the league in both steals and assists.
Redshirt freshman
Alexis Yetna (Paris) added nine points and eight rebounds at Tulane and averages 11.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. He leads the league in rebounding and double-doubles (10) and stands 21st in the nation with 3.3 offensive rebounds per game.
THE OPPONENT
SMU (13-16, 5-12) has lost four in a row and nine of its last 10 after falling, 90-79, at Houston on Thursday, which includes a 67-66 setback to USF Feb. 7 at Moody Coliseum in Dallas. In that game, Collins hit a game-winning three-pointer to lift the Bulls to the victory and send the Mustangs to their third straight loss. Overall, SMU is 2-7 on the road this season and has not won away from home since Jan. 4 at Tulane.
Senior guard and USF transfer Jahmal McMurray leads SMU and ranks fourth in The American with 18.0 points per game. Junior guard Jimmy Whitt Jr. adds 12.0 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game, while sophomore forward Isiaha Mike pours in 12.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Brian Gregory on the matchup with SMU:
"We're facing a team that was very competitive the first time around, and they've got some guys back from injury that didn't play in that game, so it's going to be a great challenge for us. It's a great opportunity for us to end the home stretch with another home win. They played very well Thursday night at Houston and kept the game in striking distance, and they are a team that is so dangerous offensively because they spread the court and drive the basketball. Defensively, they will throw different looks at you, so we have to do a good job of rebounding the basketball."
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NOTABLE
• USF is 5-9 against SMU in the all-time series that dates back to the 1986-87 season.
• USF is one victory away from only the program's fifth 20-win season and first since the 2011-12 season. USF has never won 20 games in the regular season in program history.
• 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.Â
•
Alexis Yetna leads The American and ranks 31st in the NCAA with 9.4 rebounds per game.
• USF is ranked 10th in the NCAA and second in The American with a plus-7.3 rebounding margin.
• USF has attempted the second-most free throws in the NCAA (828) and has made the 10th-most in the NCAA (528).
•
Laquincy Rideau looks to become the first player in AAC history to lead in assists and steals in the same season.
•
Laquincy Rideau already holds the American Athletic Conference single-season steals record with 80. Â
• USF is four three-pointers away from setting a new single-season school record with 212.
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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