Florida Atlantic @ South Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 10, 2017 ) Florida Atlantic 59, South Florida 60

South Florida aims to avoid a season-high third straight loss Sunday when it hosts Florida Atlantic in its final game before starting play in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls have lost back-to-back close games at home to Utah State and Florida State and, following this contest, must prepare for a bout with SMU on New Year's Day.

USF led by 10 late in the Florida State game before getting outscored 19-3 down the stretch by its in-state rival. "The guys are ticked off because we lost that game, which is good for me to able to coach them, because they are not going to accept the fact that we just competed and hung in there," coach Brian Gregory said following the contest. "They want to take another step." The Bulls committed 24 turnovers and missed 12 of their 15 3-pointers while finishing with five assists on 24 baskets in the tough-to-swallow defeat. Meanwhile, Florida Atlantic has won four straight and six of its last seven thanks to a string of good defensive efforts.

TV: 5 p.m. ET, ESPN3

ABOUT FLORIDA ATLANTIC (8-4): The Owls have allowed 59, 64, 35 and 50 points during their four-game winning streak and have played two notable opponents thus far this season, losing to Miami by 14 points and Alabama by 19 points. Cornelius Taylor averages a team-high 11.7 points and shares the team lead in 3-pointers made (24) with Michael Forrest (10.5 points), who is looking to register double-digit points for the fourth straight outing. Jailyn Ingram had a team-high 21 points in the Owls' most recent game against Mercer and is shooting 60 percent from the floor over the last three contests.

ABOUT SOUTH FLORIDA (6-6): Michael Durr had 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting against Florida State while Laquincy Rideau and David Collins pitched in 14 apiece in the six-point defeat. Collins (15.2 points) is the leading scorer on the team and has shot at least 50 percent from the floor in four of the last five outings, while Rideau (13.4 points) is just 6-of-30 from 3-point land over the last six games. Durr (5.4 points) had not scored more than eight points in any game this season before nearly doubling his season high versus the Seminoles.

TIP-INS

1. USF currently has a .500 record for the fifth time this season.

2. The teams last met on opening day in 2017-18 with USF's Stephan Jiggetts hitting the winning jumper with 12 seconds left.

3. In 12 games this season, nobody on Florida Atlantic has accumulated more than seven blocks.

PREDICTION: South Florida 64, Florida Atlantic 59