TAMPA (February 7, 2022) – Javon Greene (McDonough, Ga.) delivered in the clutch once again for the University of South Florida Bulls.
The fifth-year senior, and USF's second-leading scorer this season, had gone without a field goal over his last two games and into the waning seconds of Monday night's tilt against the Temple Owls at the Yuengling Center before breaking the drought.
"He picked a heck of a time to make his first shot," joked head coach Brian Gregory after the 52-49 victory.
With 20.8 seconds remaining on the clock, Greene chased down a loose ball and connected on what proved to be the game-winning three-pointer for the Bulls with the shot clock expiring as he fell backwards into his teammates on the home bench.
It was the second such game-winning triple Greene hit this season in the final seconds after also doing so at home against North Carolina A&T in mid-November.
"I knew it had been a while, but not that long," Greene said with a smile after the game. "I believe in myself, and I know my teammates trust me, so they continue to look for me and give me chances."
With his shot not falling, Greene never stopped working on Monday night and filled the stat sheet with three rounds, two steals, one assist and a chase-down block earlier in the game, all while drawing three charges on the defensive end.
"We knew we were in for a physical game, and we played with a lot of intensity tonight and answered that challenge," Gregory said. "We battled all night. Everybody contributed for us and I'm really pleased with the effort I saw. Our defensive effort was what gave us the opportunity to win that game."
The Bulls (7-14, 2-7 AAC) carried a two-point lead into halftime over the Owls (13-8, 6-4 AAC) in a low-scoring first half, 22-20.
South Florida led for the duration until Temple took its first lead with 8:05 left to play in the second half. The Bulls trailed by four points with 2:31 remaining in the contest and proceeded to close out the game on a seven-point run highlighted by Greene's game-winner.
"We've struggled to close out halves lately, and I thought we did an excellent job in both the first and second half tonight," Gregory added. "This is the kind of win that can build on. We've got a tough stretch with six games over the next 13 days and it will be a great opportunity for us to dig down and continue to grow together as a team."
Notable
- Greene's heroics extended a streak of 203 straight games with at least one three-pointer made for USF as the Bulls had gone without a triple in the game to that point.
- Jamir Chaplin (Norcross, Ga.) paced the Bulls with 14 points Monday while logging a season-high 37 minutes.
- Russel Tchewa (Douala, Cameroon) scored in double digits for the second straight game and finished with 13.
- Corey Walker Jr. (Jacksonville) stuffed the stat sheet with five points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a pair of steals.
- South Florida forced 18 Temple turnovers in the win.
Up Next
The Bulls close on their two-game homestand on Wednesday against Cincinnati. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in Tampa.
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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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