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For the second game in row, the USF Bulls find a way to lose a game they were winning at halftime. On Saturday, it was #16 South Carolina dominating the final seven minutes of the game to hand the Bulls the loss. This time, it’s an unranked and not very scary NIU squad to dominate the final seven minutes of play, just as the Gamecocks had, to leave with the win. The Bulls were playing with sophomore guard, Jahmal McMurray, who was granted his release from the program this morning.

The first half was closely contested, with the biggest lead of the half going to the Bulls, who led by eight with just under six minutes remaining in the first half. They would take a two point lead into the locker rooms. Neither team shot particularly well in the first half, with both making less than 35% from the field.

The Huskies held the lead for most of the second half of play, leading by nine points midway through the period. The Bulls did close the gap, going on a 7-0 run to bring the deficit to two with 6:35 to go. NIU would close the game out on 12-3 scoring run to the final score, 59-48.

USF head coach, Orlando Antigua, was questioned after the game about the departure of McMurray. Antigua declined to comment about the situation, referring interested parties to his official statement.

When asked how the team would move forward, losing such an important player as McMurray, Antigua said, “We’ve got what we need. We’ve got to come out here and take care of business and compete. And be able to start conference the way I think we can.”

Offense is what the Bulls needed badly tonight. McMurray had 25 points in the loss to South Carolina, which is more than the entire team scored in the second half, and just one point shy of what they scored in the first half. Bo Ziegler and Michael Bibby shared the team lead in scoring, with just ten points apiece. This has been the lowest scoring game of the season for the Bulls. The team continues to struggle with turnovers, committing 21, which was twice as many as NIU.

For the Huskies, three players scored in double digits. Justin Thomas and Aaric Armstead each had 11, while Levi Bradley scored 13. Maric Marin and Austin Pauga pulled down 11 and ten rebounds, respectively. With the win, NIU improves to 7-5 on the season. They will head to Miami, Ohio, to face the Redhawks on Tuesday, January 3rd.

The loss evens USF’s record to 5-5. The Bulls will host Delaware on Thursday at 7 PM, a game that can be viewed nationwide on ESPN3. That will be their final game until after the Christmas holiday, when they’ll head to ECU on the 28th.

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