TAMPA (November 29, 2022) – The University of South Florida Bulls (2-6) had their two-game winning streak halted on Tuesday night in a 73-67 setback to UMass (5-1) at the Yuengling Center. Tyler Harris paced a quartet of Bulls in double figures with 15 points.
UMass shot 43 percent from three-point land in the game, including a 6-for-11 effort in the second half, which accounted for 18 of its 33 points over the final 20 minutes of play.
"UMass is playing really good basketball early this season and we saw that first-hand tonight," said head coach Brian Gregory. "Right now we're struggling to defend the three-point arc. We need to play with a greater sense of urgency on our close outs. We played out of sorts offensively for a long stretch in the first half, but settled down in the second half, but didn't get the stops we needed defensively to close the gap."
South Florida won the rebounding battle, 38-35, and had fewer turnovers, 17-20, in the contest, but was unable to dig out of a 40-25 halftime hole.
The tilt featured several prolonged scoring runs by both the Bulls and Minutemen with UMass' 13-0 run standing as the largest as the visitors claimed a 19-12 advantage at the 10:53 mark of the first half. The Bulls had put together a 10-point run of their own before that to build a 10-3 lead in the opening minutes.
Trailing 47-33 with 14:45 on the second half clock, USF scored eight unanswered points to make it a six-point affair, but UMass connected from downtown on each of their next three trips down the court and never relinquished the lead.
Notable
- Russel Tchewa came up just shy of his first double-double of the season with 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds.
- Tchewa is shooting 75 percent (12-16) over his last two games.
- Selton Miguel logged 12 points, six assists and six rebounds.
- Sam Hines Jr. added 11 points with five rebounds and five assists.
- Keyshawn Bryant (4 games) and Jamir Chaplin (2) both returned to action after missing time with injuries.
- USF registered a season-high 11 steals in the loss.
Up Next
The Bulls wrap up their current three-game homestand on Friday, December 2 against Charleston Southern at 7 p.m. in Tampa.
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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