TAMPA (December 14, 2021) – The University of South Florida Bulls (4-4) turned in another stifling defensive effort on Tuesday night at the Yuengling Center in a 60-51 victory over the Austin Peay Governors (4-5) who entered the contest averaging over 73 points per game.
The Bulls held the Govs to 31 percent shooting from the field (7-29) and 24 percent from downtown (7-29).
"I was proud of the way our guys responded after an extended break following a tough loss last time out," said head coach Brian Gregory. "We did a great job on the defensive end. We rebounded, caused turnovers and blocked shots. Their attention to detail on the defensive end was tremendous tonight, and you saw some flashes of us making progress offensively."
The South Florida offense showed some life with a pair of extended scoring runs in each half. The Bulls poured in 11 unanswered points following Austin Peay's first basket of the game, and went on a 10-point run late in the second half to secure the win after the Governors had knotted the score at 40-40.
USF shut out the Governors offensively for nearly a 10-minute stretch after the Govs' opening basket and eventually carried a 22-16 advantage into halftime.
The Bulls' final scoring spurt began with a pull-up jumper by Caleb Murphy (Youngstown, Ohio) and was highlighted on a fastbreak dunk by Jamir Chaplin (Norcross, Ga.) off a Murphy assist. Murphy finished the night with a team-high five assists to go along with 12 points.
Javon Greene (McDonough, Ga.) stuffed the stat sheet with team highs in points (14), rebounds (8) and steals (3). The senior went 9-12 from the free throw line and scored 10 of USF's final 14 points.
Making his first start of the season, Sam Hines Jr. (Marietta, Ga.) logged a season-high 27 minutes and three blocked shots.
"Sam gave us great energy out there tonight," Gregory added. "He was really good on the defensive glass, and his ability to guard multiple positions was big for us."
Notable
- The Bulls shot 55.6 percent (10-18) in the second half – their second-best shooting percentage in any half this season.
- USF forced 16 turnovers (second most this season) and registered 18 points off those Austin Peay miscues.
- The Bulls dominated the glass, 41-33, and have out-rebounded their opponents in six of eight games to date.
- Corey Walker Jr. (Jacksonville) saw his first game action of the season and pulled down one rebound in seven minutes of play.
Up Next
South Florida's next four games will all be played on the road at neutral site venues. First up is a matchup against Florida on Saturday, December 18 at 1 p.m. in the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise.
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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.
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