TAMPA (November 17, 2022) – The University of South Florida Bulls nearly completed the second-largest comeback in program history on Thursday night at the Yuengling Center, but instead suffered a heartbreaking 62-60 loss to Austin Peay.

It marked the second straight game that South Florida (0-4) had the ball in the final possession with a chance to tie or take the lead. USF's average margin of defeat this year is a mere three and a half points.

The Bulls played the game without their leading scorer, Keyshawn Bryant, who was under the weather.

Austin Peay (2-2) exploded on a 24-point run in the first half to claim and 27-6 advantage with 9:05 on the clock, but the Bulls continued to battle, and put together a 17-2 run of their own late in the period to cut the Governors' lead to 32-30 at the break.

"Austin Peay shot the ball extremely well there in the early part of the first half, but credit our guys for their response," said head coach Brian Gregory. "In our prep work leading into this game, I told our team this is an opponent that can have a really great year, and we saw that talent on display tonight. It's disappointing, but we're getting closer to really settling in. We just didn't make the winning play there at the end to finish it."

The Bulls had an improved effort at the free throw line in the setback (7-for-10), and went 4-for-10 from three-point range in the second half of action after a 1-for-7 start in the first half.

USF finally grabbed the lead at the 12:55 mark of the second half on a hook shot by Russel Tchewa (Douala, Cameroon). The teams changed the five times from there with Austin Peay hitting a go-ahead triple with 1:22 left on the clock. The Bulls had a pair of shots on the final possession, but neither found the mark and the Governors escaped with the win.

Notable

• The Bulls had four players score in double-digits for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
• Tyler Harris (Memphis, Tenn.) paced USF with 14 points and Sam Hines Jr. (Marietta, Ga.) scored a season-high 13.
• Selton Miguel (Luanda, Angola) matched his season high with 13 points.
• Tchewa is shooting 56 percent on the young season.

Up Next

The Bulls will travel to Daytona Beach for the Sunshine Slam beginning on Monday, November 21 against UAB at 6 p.m.  

Tickets are on sale now. Fans are encouraged to visit USFBullsTix.com or call 1-800-Go-Bulls to purchase tickets.

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 sixth season in 2022-23. 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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