HONOLULU, Hawaii (December 25, 2021) – Playing in the fifth-place game at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, the University of Wyoming (11-2) pulled away from the University of South Florida (5-7) in the second half, 77-57.
Jamir Chaplin (Norcross, Ga.), Javon Greene (McDonough, Ga.) and Caleb Murphy (Youngstown, Ohio) scored 14 points apiece for USF in the setback.
The Bulls and Cowboys went into halftime deadlocked at 33-33 as both sides shot 46 percent in the opening half.
The Cowboys continued their hot shooting over the final 20 minutes, knocking down 52 percent of their shots from the field and better than 50 percent from beyond the arc (8-15).
South Florida was held to a 32 percent clip in the second half from the field and went just 1-7 from downtown.
Wyoming's Hunter Maldonado and Graham Ike combined for 42 points in the game, including 30 of the Cowboys' first 33 points in the first half.
Chaplin added a team-high six rebounds for USF while Greene led the Bulls with three assists. Greene and Corey Walker Jr. (Jacksonville) each pulled down five boards.
Notable
- South Florida won the rebounding battle, 30-28.
- The Bulls only had five assists in the game while the Cowboys dished out 13.
- Deploying a new-look starting lineup once again, the Bulls bench produced 25 points.
- USF allowed double-digit three-pointers to an opponent (10) for just the third time this season.
Up Next
The Bulls return home to wrap up their non-conference slate against Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday, December 29. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Yuengling Center in Tampa.
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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 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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