TAMPA –

The University of South Florida Bulls fall to the #21 University of Memphis Tigers, 68-64 on Sunday night. USF had controlled much of the second half of the game, only giving up the lead to the Tigers in the final three minutes of the game.

The game began with a three-pointer by Justin Brown to give the Bulls an early lead, but Memphis quickly took it back on a three by Precious Achiuwa followed by a layup by Malcolm Dandridge. The Bulls would not lead again until David Collins made a three-pointer with 11:20 remaining in the first half, putting them up, 14-13. Later in the half, a layup by Collins sparked a 16-6 run by the Bulls, putting them up 37-25 with just over two minutes remaining in the period. They would go into halftime up 37-29.

USF was in complete control in the second half, leading by as many as 12 points with 11:48 to go in the game. Memphis then went on a 17-5 run to tie the game at 58 with 5:29 left in the game. They traded the lead several times before tying again, this time at 61 with 2:43 remaining in regulation. The Bulls were outscored 7-3 down the stretch, most of which came from the free throw line.

The Tigers outshot the Bulls, 55% to 40% and dominated the paint, 30-18. They outrebounded the Bulls, 35-24. Achiuwa led the team in scoring with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Tyler Harris finished with 17, while Lester Quinones scored 13.

After the game, Bulls head coach, Brian Gregory, spoke with the media.

“Give them a ton of credit,” said Gregory. “They kept searching, searching, and searching to try to find the right alignment of guys and different things to do and just hung in there and kept it within striking distance.”

Although unhappy with the outcome, Gregory was pleased with the effort displayed by his team.

“I thought our guys plays their hearts out,” said Gregory. “I thought they played really hard. We just weren’t able to get the defensive stops when our offense slowed up a little bit.”

For USF, Collins was the scoring leader, with 24 points. Zack Dawson, with 15, was the only other Bull in double-digits.

Gregory was asked to comment on Dawson’s performance after the game.

“I’ve been pleading with him to be even more aggressive,” said Gregory. “His feel for the game is getting better. I thought, maybe, he made two bad decisions. He’s gifted offensively. He’s getting better defensively."

“It’s hard, because, he missed, consider it two full years of competing in games,” said Gregory. “So, everything that he’s going through right now, it would be like he’s a freshman. The first couple of conference games, he didn’t play as well. Now, he’s starting to get a feel for it. He’s gifted. He is gifted. There is no doubt about that.”

The Tigers improve to 13-3 (2-1) and will host Cincinnati on Thursday at 6 PM EST.

The Bulls, who have now played close and lost games with three tournament caliber teams, drop to 8-9 (1-3). They will head up I-4 to visit UCF on Saturday. That game will tipoff at 6 PM EST, with broadcast coverage available on ESPNU.