What To Watch For: USF At Tulsa
South Florida is back on the road Sunday to face Tulsa Sunday afternoon.
USF lost to Tulsa 63-53, when the teams met earlier this season on February 4 in Tampa, due in part to a 17 point, 12 rebound performance from Tulsa’s Junior Etou. DaQuan Jeffries added 16 points and six rebounds off the bench. Tulsa also grabbed 18 offensive rebounds in their win in the Sun Dome.
The Bulls got a game high 22 points from Stephan Jiggetts and freshman David Collins added 11 points in the loss.
RunningTheBulls.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against Tulsa:
Quick Facts
Matchup: USF (8-19, 1-13 AAC) at Tulsa (15-10, 8-5 AAC)
Date: Sunday, Feb. 18
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Tulsa, Okla. | Reynolds Center
Watch: ESPN3
Radio: AM 820 | GoUSFBulls.com | USF Bulls Unlimited (Jim Lighthall, Neil Solondz)
History: This will be the seventh meeting between Tulsa and USF. The Bulls are 0-6 all-time against the Golden Hurricane.
The Opponent: Tulsa is the second most experienced team in the American Athletic Conference with 72 percent of last season’s offense back including four starters. Tulsa has 42 conference wins since joining The American, which is tied with Temple for third behind only Cincinnati (53) and SMU (50) during that span (2014-present). In their most recent game, the Golden Hurricane recorded a 73-71 win over Connecticut on Thursday night in the Hartford XL Center.
Etou is their best player. The Rutgers transfer is a matchup problem because he can post up and he can make three-pointers. There are not many fours in the AAC who can do that. Etou has six double-doubles during conference play, tied with Cincinnati's Gary Clark for most in the conference. Because of his ability to make perimeter shots, it is difficult for teams to double down when the ball goes into the post when the ball goes inside to sophomore center Martins Igbanu. Tulsa does a very good job of getting him in spots where he can exploit the defense. Etou has five double-doubles this season, four during conference play.
Igbanu uses his 6-foot-8, 244-pound frame, and elbows, inside to score. He has a nice step through move and is an excellent offensive rebounder. Corey Henderson, Jr. is a streaky shooter but when he is feeling it, look out. The Bulls must run him off the arc. He is currently shooting 36.8 percent beyond the arc for the season, but 40.2 percent during conference play. Henderson has made at least four three-pointers in a game seven times, including five times since the start of conference play.
Sterling Taplin is a solid point guard for Tulsa. He is not great at any one thing but he is very good at multiple things like facilitating (he is top five in the conference in assists), perimeter shooting and rebounding. Thursday against UConn, Taplin was wired to score and had a career high 30-points. Taplin also had four rebounds, three assists and zero turnovers in that game.
Tulsa uses a matchup zone defense for slightly more than half of the game and they have active hands. The Golden Hurricane will also use a soft contain press off of made baskets and out of timeouts. Tulsa is reliant on three-point shots – they attempted 28 in the game in the Sun Dome and made 11-of-20 against UConn – they’ve been living off of three-there lately.
Outlook: USF must defend the three-point line, rebound MUCH better than they did on February 4, have good ball movement against the zone, and avoid fouling because Tulsa is good at getting to the free throw line. Tulsa will try to use its depth -- ten players are averaging 12 minutes of playing time – to wear USF down so the Bulls need to control the tempo.
Prediction: USF 59 Tulsa 74