USF Athletics

Bulls Begin Road Trip with Round Two of the War on I-4

February 16, 2021

Matchup: USF (7-7, 3-5) vs. UCF (6-11, 4-10)
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 17
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Orlando, Fla. | Addition Financial Arena
TV: ESPNU (John Schriffen, Brooke Weisbrod)
Radio: Bulls Unlimited (Jim Lighthall, Joey Johnston)
Follow: Listen | Watch | Live Stats | Twitter

TAMPA, FLA., FEB. 16, 2021 – The USF men's basketball team begins a four-game road trip Wednesday at 7 p.m. when the Bulls make the short trip to Orlando to face UCF in the second round of the War on I-4 at Addition Financial Arena.

USF defeated UCF 68-61 earlier this season for its second straight victory over the Knights. Senior guard David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) scored 18 points and added eight rebounds and seven assists to lead USF to the victory.

The Bulls enter the matchup with UCF coming off a 62-59 setback to Tulane on Sunday. Senior guard Justin Brown (Atlanta, Ga.) scored a game-high 16 points to go along with five rebounds, while junior Xavier Castaneda (Chicago, Ill.) had nine points and a career-best six assists.

USF AND UCF
USF and UCF will meet on the hardwood for the 43rd time in school history when the two teams battle on Wednesday. The Bulls own a 24-18 lead in the all-time series that dates back to the 1971-72 season. USF has won the last two matchups with the Knights after turning in a 68-61 victory Jan. 2 at the Yuengling Center. USF senior guard David Collins scored 19 points and added eight rebounds and seven assists in the victory.

IT'S BEEN AWHILE
USF will be attempting to break two long streaks when the Bulls face UCF on Wednesday in Orlando. USF will be in search of its first win in Orlando since 2014 when the Bulls defeated UCF 79-78 in overtime. In addition, USF is attempting to win three straight over UCF since earning consecutive victories in 2000, 2002 and 2007.

ROAD TRIP
USF begins a four-game road trip Wednesday at 7 p.m. when the Bulls head to Orlando to face in-state rival UCF. USF will then travel to SMU (Feb. 20), Temple (Feb. 24) and Houston (Feb. 28) before returning home to face Memphis on March 3. It's the first time USF has played four games on the road since 1997 when the Bulls played at UAB (Feb. 1), Southern Miss (Feb. 9), Rutgers (Feb. 13) and Louisville (Feb. 17) in succession.  

TWO MORE TO GO
USF picked up its second league road win of the year Jan. 9 when the Bulls turned in a 69-63 victory over East Carolina. The Bulls enter play Wednesday at UCF needing two more road wins to register the most road wins in conference play since joining The American prior to the 2013-14 season. The Bulls have won three AAC road games in three different seasons.

BIG RUSS. BIG GAME
USF sophomore center Russel Tchewa scored seven points Sunday against Tulane to register his third straight game of seven points. Tchewa has come on strong of late and become a bigger part of the USF offense as is averaging 7.0 points and shooting 58.3 percent (7-for-12) from the field over the last three games. Tchewa scored just 28 points over the first 11 games of the season.

THIRTY TWO IS TRUE
The USF men's basketball team went 32 days in between games due to Covid-19 protocols within the program. The Bulls played their 12th game of the year Jan. 9 at East Carolina and turned in a 69-63 victory over the Pirates. It wouldn't be until Feb. 10 that USF would resume games with a matchup against No. 7 Houston at the Yuengling Center. During the layoff, the Bulls had seven consecutive games postponed and only had two full practices that included all 13 players. 

LONG RANGE LOCKDOWN
USF has proven to have one of the top perimeter defenses in the NCAA this season and enters play Wednesday at UCF ranked 26th in the NCAA and fourth in The American in three-point field goal defense by limiting opponents to just 29.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Bulls have held seven of their opponents to less than 30.0 percent from down town this season. If the season ended today, the .297 three-point field goal percentage defense would be the second-lowest allowed for a single season in school history. The 1994-95 squad held opponents to 24.9 percent and holds the school record.
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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 10^th 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 over 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. 

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.

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