TAMPA (December 3, 2021) – South Carolina State's T.J. Madlock hit a game-winning triple with 0.6 seconds remaining on Friday night in the Yuengling Center to lift the Bulldogs (2-7) over the University of South Florida Bulls (3-4).

The Bulldogs' three-point shooting was the difference in the contest as the road team went 13-31 (41.9%) from beyond the arc against the Bulls who entered the night ranked 35th in the country in three-point defense (27.1%).

Madlock's heroics erased a would-be winner for South Florida on a put-back layup from Jake Boggs (Charlotte, N.C.) with 6.1 seconds remaining on the clock.

"Give them credit hitting shots all night long," head coach Brian Gregory said after the setback. "We gave them some easy looks from three early on in the game and that helped build their confidence. Three-point shooting is the great equalizer in the game of basketball."

South Carolina State went 8-14 from downtown in the opening half to carry a 36-34 advantage into the break.

Russel Tchewa (Douala, Cameroon) pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds to go along with 11 points for his first career double-double. Caleb Murphy (Youngstown, Ohio) led all players with 18 points, and stuffed the stat sheet with a season-high seven rebounds and a team-high four assists.

Tchewa had 11 points and six rebounds at halftime before Murphy took over with 13 points in the second half.

Both teams recorded 42 rebounds in the game with the Bulldogs securing 12 offensive boards which translated into 15 second-chance points, including the game-winning basket.

"We needed to do a better job on the defensive glass," Gregory added. "We had some fifty-fifty balls that we didn't come up with and that was really the most disappointing thing of the night. We're in a tough spot right now offensively, so we have to execute precisely on every aspect of the defensive end."

Notable

• South Carolina State shot only 32.8% from the field overall, connecting on just 8-33 shots from inside the perimeter.
• USF has held its opponents to under 38% from the field in five of seven games this season.
• Boggs scored a season-high 16 points on 3-6 shooting from downtown.
• The Bulls shot a season-best 84% (16-19) from the free throw line Friday.

Up Next

The Bulls will have 10 days off before conclude their two-game homestand on Tuesday, December 14 against Austin Peay at 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.
 
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