TULSA, Okla. (January 29, 2022) – The University of South Florida Bulls (6-13, 1-6 AAC) opened a two-game road trip on Saturday night with a 76-45 loss at the University of Tulsa (7-12, 1-7 AAC). Caleb Murphy (Youngstown, Ohio) was the lone South Florida player to score in double digits with 13 points.
Jeriah Horne and Sam Griffin combined for 44 points for Tulsa. Griffin scored 19 points in the first half for the home team as the Golden Hurricane carried a 40-27 lead into the break.
A fast-paced first half saw USF and Tulsa run up and down the court for nine minutes without a whistle in a tightly-contested start.
Jamir Chaplin (Norcross, Ga.) completed a three-point play with 4:37 on the clock to cut the Tulsa lead to 25-22 and two possessions later Jake Boggs (Charlotte, N.C.) connected from downtown. The Golden Hurricane answered with a 10-2 run into halftime.
"We're struggling to finish halves right now, and that's the second straight game it's come back to hurt us," said head coach Brian Gregory. "We also didn't get the job done defensively against their top players. That falls on all of us, coaches included. The ability is there, but the consistency isn't there. We just haven't sustained any of the good flashes we've shown. It's frustrating, and we're frustrated by it."
The Bulls were held to 18 points offensively in the second half on 7-26 shooting while Tulsa shot 43 percent (13-30). The Golden Hurricane shot 50 percent in the opening frame, including a hot streak over the final four minutes to build their halftime lead.
USF committed 17 turnovers in the loss and forced just seven Tulsa turnovers. The Golden Hurricane recorded a 24-0 edge in points off turnovers.
Notable
- USF falls to 0-8 this season when losing the rebounding battled (38-37 Saturday).
- Tulsa outscored the Bulls in the paint, 32-14.
Up Next
The Bulls renew their rivalry with UCF in the War On I-4 in Orlando on Thursday, February 3.
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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.
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