Morgan St. @ South Florida preview

South Florida hopes the momentum of a season-opening victory carries over to Monday when the Bulls host Morgan State. USF would like to avoid the drama needed to secure new head coach Brian Gregory his first win, though.

The Bulls shot 40 percent from the floor, going an identical 10-for-25 in each half - numbers they hope to improve on against a Morgan State team that allowed Binghamton to hit on 10-of-21 from behind the 3-point line overall and 53.6 percent from the floor in the second half. The Bulls needed a late steal and a field goal to earn a 60-59 victory over Florida Atlantic on Friday. "I'm very pleased with the result. We had a great environment tonight, hopefully something we can build on.'' Gregory told reporters after his first victory. "Our guys figured out a way to get the job done and made some plays there at the end that you have to make.'' Morgan State from the MEAC, which finished 14-16 last season, dropped a 76-59 decision to Binghamton on Friday.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN3

ABOUT MORGAN STATE (0-1): After holding a one-point halftime lead in the season opener against Binghamton, the Bears were outscored 20-2 to open the second half and never got within 11 points in the final 14 minutes of the game. Morgan State shot just 33.8 percent from the floor and committed 18 turnovers in the loss. Senior forward Phillip Carr was the only Bears' starter to score in double digits, finishing with 14 points.

ABOUT SOUTH FLORIDA (1-0): Sophomore forward Tulio Da Silva made his presence known with a career-high 20 points in the season-opening victory, but made his biggest impact late in the game. Da Silva forced a steal with 27 seconds remaining to set up a game-winning shot from Stephan Jiggetts 15 seconds later. "We prepared for close-game situations,'' Da Silva told reporters. "We knew in situations like that to stay relaxed. In our closed scrimmage, we had those situations where we had to play it out and see how it goes.''

TIP-INS

1. Da Silva has reached double digits in scoring in five of the past six games, dating back to last season.

2. USF graduate transfers G Terrence Samuel, F Payton Banks and G Jiggetts combined to score 26 points in the opening game.

3. The Bulls have not started the season 2-0 since 2014-15 and won consecutive games just once in 2016-17.

PREDICTION: USF 61, Morgan State 56