What To Watch For: South Florida vs. UCF
South Florida looks to end a two-game losing streak when it hosts UCF for the first round of the War on I-4 on Saturday.
Caleb Murphy scored a career-high 20 points to go along with three assists for USF in a loss at Memphis Tuesday. The Bulls have not won since defeating Cincinnati Dec. 16.
The Knights, whose Wednesday game against Tulane was postponed, have won two of their last three games.
BullsInsider.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against UCF:
Quick Facts
Matchup: USF (5-4, 1-2) vs. UCF (3-2, 1-1)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 2
Time: 7 p.m. EST
Location: Tampa, Florida | Yuengling Center
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: Bulls Unlimited
History: This will be the 42nd meeting between the two programs. The Bulls have a 23-18 advantage in the series. The teams split two games last season with each team winning at home.
The Opponent: The Knights leading scorer and rebounder, Collin Smith, opted out of the 2020-21 season but UCF added Oregon transfer C.J. Walker, a former Rivals five-star prospect in high school, to its roster.
Senior wing Brandon Mahan scored 224 points last season. In six games this season Mahan has already scored 103 points, is the Knights’ leading scorer and the leading scorer in the AAC at 20.6 points per game.
He runs hard in transition for kick ahead threes. In the half court Mahan wants catch and shoot opportunities. He is a good rebounder and will fly in from the perimeter. Mahan is making 64.9 percent of his twos and 47.4 percent of his threes. The Bulls need to be there on the catch with high hands.
Sophomore guard Darin Green Jr. (Wharton H.S.) is a shooter with size and range. He likes catch-and-shoot threes, both in transition and in UCF’s half-court offense. He is an aggressive shooter but will drive it. Last season Green made more threes than any player in the AAC. This season he’s connecting on 41.4 percent of his 3FGA.
A point guard convert, Dre Fuller will push it in transition. He is an explosive athlete, runs hard and flies to the glass for rebounds. Fuller slashes and cuts well without the ball. Loves working along the baseline looking for lobs off back screens. USF must keep vision on him, keep him in front and contest.
Freshman Isaiah Adams does most of his scoring inside the arc. He can hit threes with time and space and is an athletic downhill driver. Adams crashes the offensive glass hard, plays for steals on defense and is averaging two per game.
Walker is an athletic run, jump and dunk athlete. He runs hard for layups/dunks in transition. He will fly in and play over you for blocks and rebounds. USF must make him dribble it, no straight line drives and hit him when shots go up.
VCU transfer Sean Mobley can open the floor with his perimeter shooting if he is open and can step into the shot.
UCF plays mostly man (87.5 percent) but they do use a couple of zones. During our scout we saw 1-3-1 and a 2-3 zone. Sometimes the 1-3-1 will change to a 2-3 zone after the first or second pass. Watch for them to spring a press after a timeout or a made basket.
Prediction
USF 65 UCF 64
To win USF must limit turnovers, play with toughness, don’t get sped up by the UCF press and pound the glass. UCF averages nine OREB/game and are excellent at scoring on put backs (12-of-16) so USF will need to gang rebound.