TAMPA (January 4, 2023) – Russel Tchewa logged career highs in points (20) and rebounds (12) on Wednesday night for the University of South Florida (7-8, 0-2 AAC), but the Bulls suffered a 68-64 loss to Temple (9-7, 3-0 AAC) to begin a two-game conference homestand.

Tchewa registered his fifth career double-double and second in the last three games.

It was a back-and-forth affair all night between the Bulls and Owls with 11 lead changes, 15 ties, and neither side leading by more than two possessions.

Temple took the lead for good with a pair of free throws with 2:35 left to play and was able to hold off the USF offense and seal the game at the charity stripe. The Owls went 23-for-26 from the free throw line.

"Give a lot of credit to Temple who is playing well right now to open conference play, and has two of the best players in the league in Battle and Dunn," said head coach Brian Gregory. "We just didn't take care of the ball tonight and didn't defend well enough. We have to be together and more physical on the ball and guard without fouling. We put ourselves is positions in each of these first two conference games, but need to dig down deep and improve in some areas to finish these off."

The teams were whistled for a combined 38 fouls with USF going 11-for-19 at the other end on the free throw line. Tyler Harris found himself in foul trouble in the first half, only logging five minutes on the court, and picked up his fourth foul with 8:51 left to play.

Harris finished the night with nine points and a pair of assists. His lone triple of the night came with 3:53 on the clock in the second half and gave the Bulls their final lead, 60-58.

Keyshawn Bryant provided a big spark off the bench once again with 10 points, including a trio of highlight reel dunks. One of those came on a fastbreak off an assist from Selton Miguel to give USF a 53-51 edge with 7:50 on the second half clock.

The Owls immediately followed with baskets on the other end after Bryant and Harris, respectively, gave the Bulls leads on those possessions.

Tchewa poured in 13 of his 20 points in the second half of action. Serrel Smith Jr. added nine points after starting out the game knocking down each of his first three shot attempts.

Notable

• The setback snaps a four-game home winning streak for the Bulls.
• USF failed to score at least 70 points for just the third time in its last 10 games.
• Smith Jr. is shooting 11-for-13 from the field in his last two games.
• Ryan Conwell tallied a team-best four steals as USF forced 18 Temple turnovers.

Up Next

The Bulls are back on their home court against Wichita State on Sunday, January 8 at 1 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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