TAMPA, Fla., (NOV. 13, 2021) – The South Florida men’s basketball team continues a five-game homestand Saturday at non when USF hosts Sun Belt Conference foe Georgia Southern today.
The Bulls vs. Eagles matchup presents several interesting story lines. USF assistant coach Larry Dixon came to Tampa after five seasons as an assistant at Georgia Southern. The mother of Bulls forward Jalyn McCreary, Kristie Gordan, is an alumna of Georgia Southern. The Eagles head coach, Brian Burg recruited Bulls center Russel Tchewa to Texas Tech when Burg was an assistant there.
USF and Georgia Southern are both coming off of double-digit wins on Tuesday.
BullsInsider.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against Georgia Southern:
Quick Facts
Matchup: USF (1-0) vs. Georgia Southern (1-0)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 13
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Location: Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: USF Bulls Unlimited
History: USF leads the all-time series 4-1. The two programs haven’t met since Georgia Southern earned a 68-63 win over USF on Dec. 15, 2014.
The Opponent: Georgia Southern returns nine letter winners from a team that finished 13-13 (7-9 Sun Belt) last season. Including 65 percent of its scoring and 79 percent of its rebounding and four players who averaged seven or more points per game.
Division II Kentucky Wesleyan transfer Tre Cobbs was Georgia Southern's primary ball handler against Ball State. The sixth-year senior is a tough, shifty, hard playing lead guard. Cobbs also spent three seasons at Northern Kentucky. Look for Caleb Murphy to draw this defensive assignment.
Gedi Juozapaitis (GEDDY YOU-zuh-PIE-tis) hunts three-pointers and he will pull from deep. Over 65-percent of his shots last season were threes and he made 35.7 percent of them. GSU will run him off screens. USF must close out with a high hand and make Juozapaitis dribble the basketball. Watch for Javon Greene to defend Juozapaitis.
Andrei Savrasov is skilled power forward. He can put it on the floor to get to the cup and when he arrives Savrasov can score with either hand around the basket. We like Jake Boggs matched up with Savrasov.
Prince Toyambi was GSU’s most efficient player last season. The Eagles scored at least one point 52 percent of the time a possession ended with the ball in the 6-foot-7 forward/center’s hands. The Eagles will throw it to Toyambi after he sets, or slips, a screen and rolls to the basket. Toyambi, who has a 7-foot wingspan, led the Eagles in OREB and total rebounds. Most of his shot attempts, last season, were put-backs. Tchewa gets him.
Cam Bryant is an effective finisher in transition so the Bulls must locate him early. Bryant had the highest three-point percentage (36.2) of any Eagle who attempted at least 50 threes last season. USF defenders must stay down on shot fakes and not allow Bryant any open threes.
Kamari Brown started more than half of GSU’s games last season but came off the bench Tuesday and was terrific. The 6-foot-3 guard only made 30 percent of his attempts last season but made 3-of-4 on Tuesday. He has good length and will fly in for OREB. Last season he made 81 percent of his put-back attempts. USF must cut him out when shots go up.
At 6-foot-4, 210-pounds, Elijah McCadden is a big, physical guard. A capable shooter who likes to catch-and-shoot it. He didn’t play Tuesday and his status for today’s game is unknown at time of publication.
GSU played almost exclusively man (98.5%) against Ball State. The Eagles gamble for steals, they had 12 against Ball St. and they switch on screens. We think the Bulls will see some zone since they struggled against zone in the first half Tuesday.
Prediction
USF 71 Georgia Southern 63
USF needs to pound the glass at both ends as well as another game of good transition defense, low turnover numbers to get a win.
