Eastern Michigan @ South Florida preview

South Florida hopes to keep building momentum when it hosts Eastern Michigan on Sunday to complete a three-game homestand. The Bulls enter the contest on their first two-game winning streak in nearly a full year.

After knocking off Howard and Arkansas State this week, USF is looking to win three consecutive games for the first time since starting the 2014-15 season. To do so, the Bulls will have to find a way to slow down an Eastern Michigan team that is averaging 81.6 points per game. Defense has been an area of strength for USF to open the season, holding opponents to 39.6 percent from the floor and 62.8 points per game - with point guard Terrence Samuel leading that charge with a team-high 10 steals. "He's our best defender,'' Bulls forward Payton Banks, who averages 12.3 points to lead USF, said of Samuel on the team website. "We always give him the task of running these guards all over the place.''

TV: 4 p.m. ET, ESPN3

ABOUT EASTERN MICHIGAN (4-1): Junior forward Elijah Minnie, a transfer from Robert Morris, has made an immediate impact for the Eagles. Minnie leads Eastern Michigan in scoring at 18.4 points per game and has reached 20 points in four of the five games on the season with a high of 27. The 6-9 native of Pittsburgh, Pa. is nearly perfect from the free-throw line, hitting 23-of-24 attempts.

ABOUT SOUTH FLORIDA (4-2): Junior forward Malik Martin, a transfer from USC, earned his first start of the season in Friday's victory against Arkansas State and made the most of it. Martin picked up his first career double-double, finishing the game with 24 points and 10 rebounds - both career highs. The 24 points was the most by a USF player this season.

TIP-INS

1. South Florida has used the same starting lineup five times while only eight players have appeared in all six games.

2. The Bulls are shooting 78 percent from the free-throw line, second-best in the American Athletic Conference.

3. Banks, a graduate transfer from Penn State, will appear in his 100th career Division I game. He played in 93 games - 44 starts - for Penn State.

PREDICTION: Eastern Michigan 74, USF 71