TAMPA (February 8, 2023) – Tyler Harris became the American Athletic Conference's new all-time leader in career three-pointers (266) on Wednesday night at the Yuengling Center, but his 28-point effort wasn't enough to carry the University of South Florida (10-14, 3-8 AAC) in a 99-81 loss to Memphis (18-6, 8-3 AAC).
The former Memphis Tiger, Harris, broke the record against his old team where he drained 193 three-pointers in three seasons.
Harris' record-setting triple came at the 8:59 mark of the second half and cut the South Florida deficit to 75-66 at the time after Memphis had built a 19-point lead in the opening minutes of the frame.
The Tigers would once again build their lead to double digits, and with 5:46 left to play, a basket by Harris made it an 85-76 affair. Despite shooting 62 percent in the second half, the Bulls were unable to slow the Memphis offense which posted a 59 percent clip of its own in the second half and knocked down seven straight baskets to close the game.
"Memphis is very dynamic on offense with a lot of talented players and can be tough to defend. But, the turnovers, especially in the first half really hurt us," said head coach Brian Gregory. "Credit Memphis for taking advantage of those and scoring nearly a third of their points off those turnovers. Mistakes like that get amplified when you're playing a team of that caliber, and we just couldn't get that big stop on defense in the second half when we had made it a single-digit game on a couple occasions."
Memphis scored 30 points off 17 USF turnovers in the contest. The Bulls committed 12 of those turnovers in the first half which translated to 20 Tiger points.
The Bulls put together an eight-point run in the first half, and a seven-point run in the second half as they tried to chip away at their deficit, but each time the Tigers answered with a run of their own, including a nine-point run early in the second half.
Russel Tchewa recorded his third straight double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Selton Miguel added 18 points for the Bulls.
Notable
- Harris finished the game with four three-pointers for a total of 267 in his four-year career in the American (Memphis/USF); he has a grand total of 306 triples in his career (39 at Iowa State).
- Harris needs 15 more three-pointers to set a new USF single-season record (88 – Derrick Sharp, 1991-92).
- Harris has registered eight 20-point games this season (16 career).
- Tchewa has posted a double-double in six of his last 12 games (nine career).
Up Next
The Bulls begin a two-game road trip at Cincinnati on Saturday, February 11 at 7 p.m. Following that, USF travels to 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.
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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