TAMPA (January 18, 2023) – The University of South Florida Bulls (8-11, 1-5 AAC) were unable to keep up with a torrid offensive effort by the Cincinnati Bearcats (14-6, 5-2 AAC) on Wednesday night at the Yuengling Center in an 85-69 setback.

Selton Miguel paced South Florida with 15 points ahead of Keyshawn Bryant and Tyler Harris with 10 apiece. David DeJulius and Landers Noley II each scored 21 points for Cincinnati.

A red-hot shooting effort staked the Bearcats to a 47-29 lead at the break. Cincinnati shot 52.9 percent (18-34) from the field and 53.8 percent (7-13) from downtown in the opening half.

"Cincinnati is playing really well and they are a dangerous team when they are shooting well from three-point range," said head coach Brian Gregory. "We didn't do a good job of keeping them out of the lane and they exposed our lack of activity on defense. We weren't consistent enough tonight in our defensive coverages or offensive movement with the ball. Particularly in the first half, we didn't move the ball well offensively at all."

The Bearcats erased an early 10-4 USF lead with a 12-0 run which eventually ballooned into a 20-4 run for a 24-14 Cincinnati lead with 8:41 left in the half. The Bulls also committed five turnovers during the Bearcats offensive explosion.

Following a USF timeout, Cincinnati again put together a 15-2 run to lead 38-19 with 4:09 left on the clock by knocking down seven of eight field goals.

The Bearcats didn't commit a single turnover over the first 20 minutes of action during their scorching offensive effort.

Bryant scored eight points in the first half for USF on 3-for-3 shooting.

Cincinnati picked right back up in the second half with a three-pointer on its opening possession, and never relinquished its double-digit lead for the remainder of the night.

Corey Walker Jr. provided a spark off the bench in the second half and finished the night with four points, four rebounds and a pair of assists. Sam Hines Jr. pulled down a team-best six rebounds in the loss.

Notable

• The Bulls did their best to keep pace with Cincinnati in the second half by shooting 50 percent from the field (13-26).
• Hines Jr. added a season-high three blocks to the stat sheet.
• Cincinnati's four total turnovers were the fewest forced by USF in a game this season.

Up Next

The Bulls conclude their homestand on Saturday with a War On I-4 clash against UCF at 12 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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