The USF men’s basketball team brings their losing streak to five games after losing to #14 Cincinnati, 78-55 on Saturday night. The Bulls played a close first half before getting blown out in the second.
USF controlled the pace in the first half, leading nearly 16 minutes of the game. With eight minutes before halftime, the Bulls had a ten point lead, 21-11. Cincinnati then when on an 18-8 scoring run to tie the game at 19 with just under three minutes to go. The Bearcats would take the lead and hold it, going into the halftime break leading, 35-33.
The second half was Beatcats all over the place. Cincinnati led every minute of the half, coming one point shy of doubling the USF second half scoring total, 43-22. The Bearcats dominated the paint, 22-14 and outrebounded the Bulls, 30-22. The most glaring statistic in the game was the 31 free throws that Cincinnati shot, and the 27 that they made. They had nearly twice as many chances as the Bulls, but shooting 87% from the line is a special performance. Four Bearcats (4), Jacob Evans, Justin Jenifer (4), Gary Clark (4), and Kyle Washington (8), were perfect with free throws. Cincinnati also shot better, overall, 51% from the field versus the Bulls’ 40%. Jarron Cumberland led the team in total scoring, with 18 points. Evans had 16 and Washington scored 14. Clark was the final Bearcat in double digits with ten points, but also pulled down a team leading 10 rebounds.
There were few bright spots for the Bulls, especially in the second half. Peyton Banks scored an impressive 22 points in the game, but he was the only Bull in double digit scoring. And, that wasn’t good enough for USF head coach, Brian Gregory.
“He shot the ball well. He really did a good job shooting the ball,” said Gregory after the game. “We gave him some good looks. I want more from him though. You can’t play 30 minutes and not get a rebound.”
Gregory was pleased with what he saw from the two freshmen, David Collins and Justin Brown. “The one thing is, you watch, it doesn’t matter the score, whatever,” said Gregory. Those guys compete every play. And that’s a good sign, a good sign for us.”
The #14 Bearcats improve to 15-2 (4-0) and will head east to Orlando to visit nearby UCF on Tuesday, January 16th.
The Bulls will hope to end the losing streak at Greenville when they visit the ECU Pirates on Wednesday, January 17th. The Pirates beat USF at the Sun Dome, 67-65 ten days ago. USF is now 7-11 (0-5) on the season.
