12/2/2023 basketball Edit

Bulls fall in battle against Minutemen 66-56

Staff Reports

Special to Bulls Insider

AMHERST, Ma.– The University of South Florida men’s basketball team stayed on the road for a matchup with UMass on Saturday. Selton Miguel led South Florida with 16 points, but the Bulls (2-4) fell to the Minutemen (4-1) 66-56.

The Bulls came out of the gates strong and a defensive rebound by Sam Hines Jr. led to a fastbreak slam for Chris Youngblood for the game's first points.

After the opening basket, the game was a back-and-forth battle. UMass held an 11-9 lead with 11:35 left in the opening stanza. The two sides continued to trade baskets until the game was tied 16-16 with 8:03 left in the half.

The Minutemen outscored the Bulls 14-7 to close out the half and take a 30-23 lead at the break.

Josh Cohen scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Minutemen to help knock off USF (UMass Media Athletics)

UMass scored the first points of the second half and went on an 8-4 run to take a 38-27 lead with 15:32 left in regulation. USF and UMass traded baskets over the next four minutes of play as the Minutemen held a 45-35 lead at the under-12 media.

The Minutemen extended their lead to 13, 49-36, with 7:30 left in regulation. The game turned into a free-throw contest over the next 2 minutes that saw USF outscore UMass 8-2 during that stretch. South Florida closed the deficit to 51-44 with 6:01 left to play.

UMass went on a 9-2 run and extended its lead to 14, 60-46, with just over three minutes left in regulation. The Bulls went on a 6-3 run on back-to-back 3-pointers by Miguel and cut the deficit to 63-52 with 1:20 left to play. USF outscored UMass 4-3 for the final 1:20 but fell 66-65.

Notables

· Selton Miguel tied for a team-high 16 points on 4-of-5 from 3-point range. His four 3-pointers tied a career-high.

· Selton Miguel is the first USF player to lead the team in points, rebounds, and assists since Jamir Chaplin did it against Houston on January 5, 2022.

· The South Florida bench has outscored the opponent’s bench in every game this season, including 35-14 tonight.

Next Up

The Bulls return to action on Saturday, December 9, for the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic in Sunrise, Florida. South Florida battles Florida State at 1:30 p.m.