Dartmouth @ South Florida preview

South Florida put together a December to remember last season with a perfect 4-0 mark. The Bulls hope for more of the same this year as they host Dartmouth on Friday night after opening the month with a 65-55 triumph over visiting Furman earlier in the week.

Defense continues to be the name of the game for USF in the three seasons under head coach Brian Gregory and the team held Furman to 26.1 points below its season average, the seventh time that an opponent has failed to reach its scoring average against the Bulls in 2019-20. "I thought we took a really good step the other night with our defensive intensity, our rebounding and some timely offense," Gregory told reporters. "We're still working, but I like our guys' attitude moving forward." The Bulls did their best work on Furman's leading scorer Jordan Lyons, holding the senior guard to a mere four points after he came in averaging 16.1 with seven straight double-digit outings as he hit just two of his 12 shots - missing all seven of his 3-point attempts. That kind of defensive prowess figures to challenge a Dartmouth team that comes off back-to-back losses to Bowling Green (76-69) and Georgia State (83-80 in OT) to begin a stretch of five straight road games.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, No TV

ABOUT DARTMOUTH (5-3): Senior guard James Foye (25 points) and junior forward Chris Knight (23) both eclipsed the 20-point barrier against Georgia State, the first Big Green teammates to turn the trick in the same game since March 1. Knight (12.9 points per game), Foye (10.0) and Aaryn Rai (10.9) average in double digits and the team is shooting 45.1 percent from the floor and 35.6 from long range. Dartmouth has been especially productive from deep of late and its 12 3-pointers against Georgia State give the Big Green four straight games with at least 11 triples for a total of 49 in 113 attempts in those contests.

ABOUT USF (4-4): Sophomore guard Xavier Castaneda stepped up against Furman, coming off the bench to post a career-high 18 points thanks to recording four of the team's nine 3-pointers. Junior guard David Collins continues to attack defenses and the record books as the team's leading scorer for the season (14.6) chipped in with 16 points against Furman, leaving him just 27 shy of 1,000 for his career. Laquincy Rideau, last season's American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, has a team-high 21 steals and sits second in scoring (13.0), while Justin Brown comes off his first career double-double with 10 points and a personal-high 10 rebounds as the Bulls held a 46-31 rebounding advantage against Furman.

TIP-INS

1. The teams have met just once before, with USF winning 90-54 in 1984.

2. During the Bulls' five-game December winning streak, they have won by an average of 14.2 points per outing.

3. USF is 14-4 since the start of last season when Brown scores in double digits.

PREDICTION: USF 68, Dartmouth 57