Charlotte @ South Florida preview

After pulling off back-to-back wins, South Florida looks to end non-conference play on a high note when it hosts Charlotte on Thursday. The Bulls have a couple of potential program benchmarks on the line.

A victory would give the Bulls their first three-game winning streak since the start of the 2014-15 season. With a win, USF would also end non-conference play with the most victories since the 2013-14 season. Both of those would be significant accomplishments for first-year coach Brian Gregory. "The game against Charlotte is a big game to end the non-conference season the right way with our third straight win," Gregory told the school website. "You're seeing progress in a lot of different areas. We have some Achilles heels we need to work on, but we're getting more production from more people on a more consistent basis.''

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN3

ABOUT CHARLOTTE (4-6): The 49ers ended a four-game losing streak with a victory at East Carolina on Monday. Junior guard Andrien White scored a career high-tying 30 points - almost 18 above his season average. The 49ers have tightened up in the past two games defensively, holding opponents to a combined shooting percentage of 37.0 - including 9-for-45 from behind the 3-point line.

ABOUT USF (6-6): After relying on guard play through the early parts of the season, the Bulls are now starting to get production from their post players. Junior forward Isaiah Manderson is coming off his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in a victory against Northern Arizona while Tulio Da Silva, Malik Martin and 7-2 center Nikola Scekic have chipped as well. "We've put a greater emphasis on those guys being more consistent and getting them the ball more, them posting deeper," Gregory told reporters. "I think over the last two weeks, all four of those guys have made greater progress in that."

TIP-INS

1. This is the 54th all-time meeting between the two teams, who were rivals in three different conferences from 1976-2005. USF leads the all-time series 28-25, with the last meeting coming on March 5, 2005.

2. USF ranked 12th in the nation in 3-point field goal defense entering Wednesday, holding teams to 28.3 percent.

3. Martin is tied for second in the American Athletic Conference through Tuesday with 19 blocked shots.

PREDICTION: USF 80, Charlotte 62