CINCINNATI, Ohio (February 11, 2023) – Corey Walker Jr. scored a career-high 25 points on Saturday night for the University of South Florida Bulls (10-15, 3-9 AAC), but it wasn't enough to keep up with a scorching shooting effort in the second half by the Cincinnati Bearcats (17-9, 8-5 AAC), who pulled away with an 84-65 win on their home court. Cincinnati shot 66 percent in the second half, including a 7-for-10 clip from three-point range.

"We didn't defend in the second half with the same intensity that we did in the first half, and they really broke the game open with those three-pointers," said head coach Brian Gregory. "One thing just led to another, and we didn't show enough maturity to overcome it. I was really proud of how our guys executed the game plan in the first half, but we didn't play a full 40 minutes."

Keyshawn Bryant and Russel Tchewa both sat out Wednesday's game with injuries, while Walker Jr. stepped into Tchewa's vacant role and scored a career-high 16 in the first half alone.  

South Florida drained seven straight field goals and used an 8-0 run to claim a 38-34 advantage at halftime, but Cincinnati came out of the locker room on fire, reclaimed the lead in a hurry, and never looked back.

The Bearcats made eight of their first 11 field goal attempts (2-3 from downtown) to erase its halftime deficit and claim a 52-43 lead at the 13:17 mark of the second half. The Bearcats continued to shoot better than 70 percent midway through the half to build a 61-49 advantage with 9:24 left to play.

The home team's lead swelled to 69-54 at the 7:42 mark after back-to-back three-pointers that saw Cincinnati's red-hot effort reach a 5-for-7 clip from downtown in the second half. The Bearcats were shooting 8-for-13 from beyond the arc at that point after their 0-for-7 start from downtown in the first half.

The shooting clinic continued for Cincinnati as six straight field goals, including three from downtown, made it a 76-58 affair with 4:21 left to play, and the Bearcats cruised to the final whistle.

In his first start of the season, Corey Walker Jr. scored five of USF's first seven points of the game and eight of the Bulls' first 16.

USF led 9-8 at the 12:08 mark in a fast-paced start, but a low-scoring affair, that saw both teams shoot just 23.5 percent.

A three-pointer by Walker Jr. with 7:43 left in the first half knotted the score at 19-19 as his point total swelled to 11 in his efforts to carry the offense.

Trailing 30-25 with 3:29 left in the first half, the Bulls responded by draining their final seven field goals of the opening half. USF closed the first half on an 8-0 run, capped by Tyler Harris' deep three-pointer to beat the buzzer, and give the Bulls a 38-34 lead at the break.

After a slow start offensively, the Bulls shot 46 percent in the first half (3-6 from downtown). The Bearcats only shot 29 percent from the field but were able to keep the score close by making 16 trips to the free throw line, compared to just six for USF.

Notable

• USF had won two straight games over the Bearcats in Cincinnati before Saturday's setback.
• Walker Jr.'s previous career high was 12 points and his 2022-23 season high stood at nine before Saturday's outburst.
• Harris needs 14 more three-pointers to set a new USF single-season record (88 – Derrick Sharp, 1991-92).

Up Next

The Bulls wrap up their two-game road swing at Tulsa on Wednesday, February 15.

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

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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 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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