TAMPA (November 19, 2021) – The University of South Florida Bulls (2-2) opened Friday night's game at Amalie Arena with nine-unanswered points against the No. 21-ranked Auburn Tigers (3-0). South Florida led wire-to-wire in the first half for a 33-26 advantage at the break before Auburn took its first lead midway through the second half and held off the Bulls for a 58-52 win.

Caleb Murphy (Youngstown, Ohio) led all scorers with 19 points. The second-year guard also held Wendell Green Jr., a Freshman All-American a year ago and Auburn's leading scorer, to zero points in the contest.

"Caleb had a great game on both ends, and that's what we need from him," said head coach Brian Gregory after the game. "Collectively we made some strides tonight, I thought we played with really good pace for the most part and that starts with Caleb."

In front of an energized crowd in downtown Tampa, the Bulls exploded out of the gate to a 9-0 lead while forcing Auburn into six turnovers in the first four minutes of action. USF forced 14 Tigers turnovers on the night and scored 15 points off of those miscues.

USF led by as many as 15 points at the 5:37 mark of the first half on a pull-up jumper in the lane by Murphy as he went 5-9 from the field over the first 20 minutes of play.

Auburn answered with a 10-point run to cut into its deficit prior to halftime.

The Tigers' run in the first half was sparked by a number of fastbreak buckets which carried into the second half as Auburn used a 15-point run early in the second half to finally overtake the lead.

Auburn's scoring run began at the 12:45 mark and lasted until the 7:46 mark where the Tigers scored 12 points in the paint, including six on fastbreaks.

"Our defense was up to the test tonight, especially in the half court," Gregory added. "It was those handful of possessions late in the first half and during that run in the second half that we gave up points in transition that really hurt us."

Javon Greene (McDonough, Ga.) hit a pair of clutch three-pointers down the stretch to threaten the Auburn lead. He connected from downtown at the 7:18 mark to make it a three-point affair, and after the Tiger lead swelled back to eight points, Greene drilled another triple with 2:28 left to play to make it a 55-52 contest.

The hero in Monday night's comeback win, Greene looked to repeat his performance against the nationally-ranked Tigers with one more look from beyond the arc to tie the game with 47 seconds remaining, but his shot fell just off target.

"This effort tonight is our expectation, every game, not just against a ranked team," Gregory said. "We really competed well, but we're just not there quite yet as a unit to be able to overcome some of those mistakes we saw."

Notable

• Murphy's 19 points were just one off his career high of 20 (12/29/20 vs. Memphis).
• He pulled down a career-best six rebounds on Friday.
• Greene finished with 15 points, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
• Sam Hines Jr. (Marietta, Ga.) scored six points and collected a season-high five rebounds.
• The Bulls have held their opponent to under 38 percent shooting in three of four games this season.
• Auburn entered the game averaging 85 points offensively over its first two contests, and was only held to under 60 points three times all of last season.
• The Tigers owned a 19-4 advantage in fastbreak points on Friday.

Up Next

The Bulls return to the Yuengling Center on Wednesday, November 24 against Hampton University. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

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

About USF Men's Basketball

The USF men's basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory, who enters his fifth season in 2021-22. Gregory was introduced as the 10th head coach in program history in March of 2017 after previously leading 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 over 300 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship with Dayton. 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. 
 
USF has retired three numbers in its 48-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.
 
For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.

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