Bulls Open Postseason Thursday Against UCF in AAC Tournament
Matchup: USF (14-17, 7-11) vs. UCF (16-14, 7-11)
Date: Thursday, March 12
Time: 1 p.m. (EST)
Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Dickies Arena
TV: ESPNU (
Mike Corey, Tim Welsh)
Radio: Bulls Unlimited (
Jim Lighthall, Joey Johnson)
Follow: Listen | Watch | Live Stats | Twitter
TAMPA, FLA., MARCH 10, 2020 – The USF men's basketball team begins its quest for an American Athletic Conference Tournament title Thursday at 1 p.m. (EST) when the Bulls travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to face in-state rival UCF in the opening round at Dickies Arena.
USF (14-17, 7-11) earned the No. 9 seed in the tournament following a dramatic 61-60 victory over SMU Saturday on Senior Night thanks to a game-winning three-pointer from
Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) with 0.6 seconds remaining. Rideau finished with 12 points, five rebounds, six assists and five steals in his final game at the Yuengling Center. Rideau enters the postseason ranked second on the team with 12.6 points per game and is 10th in the NCAA with 2.5 steals per game.
Junior guard
David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) scored a team-high 15 points to go along with six rebounds and three steals on Saturday against the Mustangs. Collins leads USF with 13.7 points per game and ranks 11th in the NCAA with 216 free throw attempts. Collins opens play on Thursday ranked ninth all-time at USF with 1,266 career points and needs just six more to move into eighth.
Junior
Justin Brown (Atlanta) adds 9.1 points per game and has made a team-high 55 three-pointers and shoots 33.5 percent from beyond the arc. Sophomore forward
Michael Durr (Atlanta) leads USF with 6.1 rebounds per game and
Ezacuras Dawson III (Miami) shoots a team-high 37.8 percent from three-point range.
THE OPPONENT
UCF (16-14, 7-11) closed its regular season with two straight home wins and earned the No. 8 seed after winning the tiebreaker with USF. Earlier this season, USF dropped a 55-54 decision in Orlando in the first matchup between the two but responded two weeks later with a 64-48 win at the Yuengling Center.
Junior forward Colin Smith leads the UCF offense with 12.6 points per game and stands second on the team with 6.3 rebounds per game. Freshman guard Darin Green Jr. adds 10.1 points per game and senior guard Dazon Ingram paces UCF with 6.9 rebounds per game.
QUOTABLE
USF Head Coach Brian Gregory on the conference tournament:
"Saturday was a miracle finish and an unbelievable way to end the season at home. Now, the guys are able to turn their attention onto this week and the task at end. I think a lot of the teams in our league are going into the tournament with the thought that they can win it. Then you add to it that we're playing our in-state rival, it really adds a lot to the tournament."
NOTABLE
• USF is 23-18 against UCF in the all-time series that dates back to the 1971-72 season.
• USF is in search of its first win in the American Athletic Conference Tournament since 2016.Â
• USF head coach
Brian Gregory is four wins away from 300 career victories.
•
David Collins has made 428 career free throws and ranks third all-time in school history and second in AAC history.
•
Laquincy Rideau ranks 10th in the NCAA with 2.4 steals per game and has the 10th-most in the nation with 77.
•
Laquincy Rideau has the third-most career steals of any player in American Athletic Conference history with 178.  Â
• USF is 19-7 since the start of last season when
Justin Brown scores in double figures.
•
David Collins has attempted the 11th-most free throws in the NCAA this season with 216.
• USF ranks 20th in the NCAA in scoring defense by allowing just 62.7 points per game.
• USF has held 27 of its 31 opponents under their season scoring average.Â
•
David Collins ranks ninth all-time at USF in scoring with 1,266 career points.
•
Justin Brown has made the eighth-most career three-pointers in school history with 155.
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 owns nearly 300 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship. In his second season at the helm of the Bulls, Gregory led the team to the best win turnaround in the NCAA, the most single-season wins in school history and the 2019 College Basketball Invitational championship.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, appeared in the NIT eight times and won the 2019 College Basketball Invitational.
To stay up-to-date on the latest USF men's' basketball news, follow the Bulls on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).
For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.
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