TAMPA- Fla. – South Florida guards David Collins had 23 points, Laquincy Rideau added 14 points plus nine assists and the Bulls held off a 13-6 run by Southern Methodist over the final 4:47 of the game to defeat the Mustangs 67-66 in Moody Coliseum Thursday night in Dallas, Texas.
The victory was USF’s fourth American Athletic Conference win in a row, a first since USF joined the league, and was the Bulls first win at SMU since 2009.
SMU had four players score in double-figures led by Isiaha Mike’s 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
RunningTheBulls.com was at the game and here is our Instant Analysis:
IT WAS OVER WHEN: SMU center Ethan Chargois missed a 30-footer at the buzzer. The Mustangs gained possession of the ball with 5.5 seconds remaining following Collins’ corner three that provided what would be the final score.
HE STOLE THE SHOW: Mike was terrific for SMU. We mentioned him in our “What To Watch For” game preview and he, unfortunately, proved our scouting report correct.
THE STAT DOESN’T LIE: USF made 80 percent of its free throws but they were just 4-5 at the free throw line for the night. Meanwhile SMU attempted 16 free throws.
WHAT A PLAY: Collins missed a three-pointer and Mayan Kiir, who had come up to set a ball screen for Collins, dove to the basket and went up for a rebound with Chargois draped over his left shoulder. Kiir exploded through Chargois' contact, grabbed the missed shot with one hand and dunked it in one motion. It gave the Bulls a 57-53 lead with 7:34 left in the second half.
THE BOTTOM LINE: USF is 16-6, 6-4 AAC, they will return to Tampa and prepare for Sunday’s home game against East Carolina (9-13, 2-8 AAC) who has lost seven of it’s last eight games.
Win No. 16 is noteworthy because USF head coach Brian Gregory has won at least 16 games in year two in each of his previous two coaching stops.