South Florida @ Tulane preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 9, 2019 ) Tulane 48, South Florida 66

South Florida is two shy of reaching the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2011-12 and faces a pair of teams below them in the American Athletic Conference standings to end the regular season, starting with a visit to New Orleans to meet Tulane on Wednesday. The Bulls, who have dropped three straight and five of six, rolled over Tulane 66-48 earlier this season but are determined not to look past the Green Wave despite their 18-game losing streak.

“They are playing better because they are healthy again and their younger guys are playing a lot of minutes,” USF coach Brian Gregory told reporters of Tulane, which did not have leading scorer Caleb Daniels in the first meeting Jan. 9. “It’s going to be a difficult game for us going on the road having a quick turnaround, but we’re going to have to make sure we respond the right way.” The Bulls shot 32.8 percent from the field in a 60-58 loss at Connecticut on Sunday and need better shooting from leading scorers Laquincy Rideau and David Collins, who are 13-of-60 from the floor the past three games. Daniels averages 16 points, including 19.3 in the last four contests, and without him in the lineup the Green Wave turned the ball over 26 times in the first matchup against USF. Tulane lost to East Carolina 85-81 at home on Feb. 23 before dropping road games at Tulsa (72-64) and Temple (80-69), but drained 30-of-75 shots from 3-point range combined in the process.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN3

ABOUT SOUTH FLORIDA (18-11, 7-9 American): Collins averages 15.1 points and Rideau is next at 12.9, while leading the team in assists (5.5) and sitting seventh in the nation in steals (2.86) entering Tuesday, but the duo is 4-of-31 from 3-point range the last three games. Redshirt freshman forward Alexis Yetna boasts 10 doubles-doubles and contributes 12 points along with a league-leading 9.5 rebounds per contest. Junior forward Antun Maricevic from Croatia is averaging 9.3 points (5.5 above his season mark) on 16-of-22 shooting the last four games.

ABOUT TULANE (4-24, 0-16): Daniels also averages 3.2 assists, second on the team behind senior guard Jordan Cornish, and leads the Green Wave with 20 steals while draining 12 of his 41 3-pointers in the past four contests. Junior forward Samir Sehic tops the team in rebounding (7.8) and is averaging 19.7 points (12.1 overall) along with nine boards over his last three outings. Cornish, who played his first two seasons at UNLV, is 36 points shy of 1,000 for his career overall and five assists away from 300 after posting 10 in two of the past four contests.

TIP-INS

1. Tulane freshman G Kevin Zhang scored 11 against USF on Jan. 9, but is averaging 3.6 over the past eight games.

2. South Florida led the nation in free throws attempted (808) entering Tuesday, but have made 64.1 percent of them - last in the American.

3. The Green Wave lead the all-time series 21-15, but dropped an 80-75 decision to USF at home last season.

PREDICTION: South Florida 78, Tulane 70