It has been 215 days since the USF men’s basketball team ended its second season under Brian Gregory by cutting down the nets inside McGrath-Phillips Arena, on the campus of DePaul University, after winning the College Basketball Invitational and notching a program-record 24th win.
Tomorrow night the Bulls begin the 2019-20 season when they host Arkansas-Pine Bluff for the season-opener for both teams.
The Bulls never trailed in a 76-62 victory over Saint Leo last Tuesday night in an exhibition game at the Yuengling Center. Now the games count, as they say, for USF who was picked to finish fifth in a preseason poll of American Athletic Conference coaches.
RunningTheBulls.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against Arkansas-Pine Bluff:
Quick Facts
Matchup: Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-0) at USF (0-0)
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 5
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
Watch: ESPN3
Radio: Bulls Unlimited
History: This is the first ever meeting between the two programs.
The Opponent: Arkansas-Pine Bluff finished the 2018-19 season with a 13-19 overall record and a 10-8 record in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) which put them in a three-way tie for third place in their conference. According to Kenpom.com, the Golden Lions played 27th toughest schedule in college basketball. George Ivory 132–222 (.373) overall, 110–88 (.556) SWAC is in his 12 season as the head coach at UAPB. He tends to substitute players liberally.
Based on the three of UAPB games we watched from last season we expect the Golden Lions to primarily use a 2-3 zone, with some matchup looks, including man-to-man principles on the ball. It occasionally starts off looking like a 1-1-3 zone before getting into the 2-3. UAPB used zone 73 percent of the time last season. Opponents shot 42 percent against their zone but only scored .860 points per possession.
Offensively UAPB runs lots of motion offense and uses flare, staggered, pin downs and some ball screens.
Key returners are second-team preseason All-SWAC selections Shaun Doss and Terrance Banyard. Last season Doss was second on the team in minutes played, usage, scoring and assists. He was also the team’s third leading rebounder. Doss is very good at getting to the free throw line. He had a 65.2 percent free throw rate last season, good for No. 37 in the nation. What Doss wasn’t good at was three-point shooting at just 28.8 percent.
Banyard is an athletic 6-foot-8, 215-pounder. He has good hops and if USF loses him on defense he’ll be looking to score off of lobs on baseline cuts. Banyard exciting to watch in transition, but was a poor perimeter shooter last season.
Keep an eye on Isaac Bassey, a 6-foot-11, 250-pound senior center. He looks to back defenders down and spin to his right shoulder to score either at the basket or on a short turnaround jumper. We noticed that Bassey often ‘chicken wings’ his left arm to create space when he spins to his right. It is part of the reason Bassey committed 8.3 personal fouls per 40 minutes played last season.
The Golden Lions do not return a single player who made at least 30 percent of his three-point attempts but they do have six new players – four JuCo transfers and two freshmen – this season.
Prediction
USF 75 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 59
USF needs to limit turnovers, control the glass and attack the UAPB zone. UAPB looks like a team that USF can use ball pressure in the backcourt to speed up and/or turnover. Their guards have a tendency to over dribble.
