Tulane @ South Florida preview
Yuengling Center
Last Meeting ( Jan 29, 2020 ) South Florida 66, Tulane 52
South Florida didn't play a game for a month because of COVID-19 disruptions.
The Bulls are scheduled to play their second game in five days when they meet Tulane in an American Athletic Conference game on Sunday in Tampa, Fla.
The Bulls were mostly idle until having two days of full practices before losing at home to No. 8 Houston 82-65 on Wednesday night in their first game since Jan. 9.
USF (7-6, 3-4 AAC) played the Cougars even for more than 13 minutes and trailed by just 43-35 at halftime before wearing down in the second half.
"We're going to have some sore guys, no doubt about that," coach Brian Gregory said. "We will have to be professional about it and take care of our bodies because we have to get in some practice (before playing Tulane)."
The Bulls got within 76-61 with six minutes remaining, but they didn't make another field goal. They committed 15 turnovers, leading to 21 Houston points.
David Collins led South Florida with 18 points and Michael Durr scored 14 points.
"Our goal is to have 12 turnovers or less and we're not getting that," Gregory said.
The Green Wave (8-8, 3-8 AAC) are 1-1 on a four-game road trip after a 53-49 loss at UCF on Friday. They began the trip with a 58-48 victory at Tulsa two days earlier.
Tulane coach Ron Hunter placed an increased emphasis on getting the ball in the paint, avoiding difficult 3-pointers by one of the AAC's poorest 3-point shooting teams and having higher-quality possessions.
It paid off in the win at Tulsa, but the Green Wave slipped back into bad habits in the loss to UCF, shooting 31.6 percent from the field, including 23.8 percent on 3-pointers.
"Rarely at this time of year, in February, do your change your offense, but we changed it," Hunter said. "We've really struggled all year with our offense."
--Field Level Media