Instant Analysis: USF 66 Tulane 52

Trailing by 12 with nine minutes left in the first half, USF (9-12, 2-6 AAC) outscored Tulane (10-10, 2-6 AAC) 20-5 to finish the first half, built a 15-point second half lead then withstood Tulane’s rally in a 66-52 American Athletic Conference win in Devlin Fieldhouse Wednesday night.

Four Bulls finished in double figures led by Laquincy Rideau and David Collins who each scored 14 points, Ezacuras Dawson had 13 and Madut Akec had career highs with 10 points and eight rebounds. Michael Durr scored eight points and grabbed eight boards before leaving the game with 2:45 left with what we hope is a minor knee injury.

Tulane forward Christion Thompson had a game high 18 points and Nic Thomas added 11 points in the loss.

RunningTheBulls.com was at the game and here is our Instant Analysis:

IT WAS OVER WHEN: Justin Brown hit a three-pointer off an assist from Rideau, to put USF ahead 62-48 with 2:19 to play in the game.

HE STOLE THE SHOW: Collins was an efficient 4-of-7 from the field and made 4-of-5 at the charity stripe. He grabbed eight rebounds -- three of them OREB -- dished four assists, stole the ball three times and had an impressive block early in the second half.

THE STAT DOESN’T LIE: The Bulls owned the paint outscoring Tulane by a 34-16 margin, 20-6 in the second half, Wednesday night.

WHAT A PLAY: In a fast break Collins used a Euro-step to get past Zhang, defy gravity to score, drew contact and made the free throw for a nice three-point play that put the Bulls up 48-33 with 12:11 to play. It was USF’s biggest lead of the game.

THE BOTTOM LINE: USF earned a MUCH needed win. It is just the Bulls second win in January and is the team's first win in a true road game this season. They return home on Saturday February 1 for round No. 2 of the War On I-4 against UCF.