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Short-handed Bulls Fight Back but Fall Late at Tulsa


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Short-handed Bulls Fight Back but Fall Late at Tulsa

Junior guard Geno Thorpe posts game-high 24 points, five assists and five steals

TULSA, Okla., FEB. 23, 2017 – The University of South Florida men’s basketball team (7-20, 1-15 The American) surged back from an early 14 point deficit to tie Tulsa in the second half but the Golden Hurricane pulled away late to defeat the Bulls 82-68 on Thursday night.

Junior guard Geno Thorpe (Pittsburgh) compiled a game-high 24 points, one shy of his career best. He also added five assists and a career-high five steals against Tulsa (13-14, 7-8).

Facing foul trouble throughout the night and missing both Michael Bibby (Phoenix) and forward Bo Zeigler (Detroit) due to injury, USF found themselves in an early 15-1 deficit.

Trailing 24-10, the Bulls went on a 15-7 run, capped by a Ruben Guerrero drive and dunk from the top of the arc. The Spainard’s slam pulled USF within six, 31-25.

After another Tulsa run, the Bulls would lower the deficit back to five, 39-34, entering halftime. Despite playing the final 13:13 with two fouls, Thorpe registered a game-high 13 points in the opening stanza.

Out of the break, the Bulls tied Tulsa at 47 on a Geno Thorpe 3 and again at 49 following a Troy Holston (Queens, N.Y.) jumper with 14:39 to go in regulation.

The Golden Hurricane then posted the next nine consecutive points to put USF in a bigger hole. The Bulls would only get as close as four points at the 6:56 junction as Tulsa held on for the victory.

Key Stat

  • The Bulls committed 25 fouls in the game. Tulsa, who leads the conference in free throw shooting percentage, went 24-for-32 at the line including 17-for-20 in the second half.

Quotable

Interim head coach Murry Bartow’s on the Bulls’ effort and the difference:

“The guys fought hard and competed hard but you can’t spot (Tulsa) a 15-1 lead.”

Coach Bartow on the comeback from 14 points down to tie the game:

“There were a lot of positives…great energy and competitive spirit. We just made some mistakes the last 7-8 minutes that hurt us.”

Notables

  • Thorpe netted 20+ points for the sixth time this season and fourth in the last six games.
  • Redshirt freshman forward Tulio Da Silva (Brazil) totaled 10 points, all in the second half.
  • The team’s 12 steals tied a season-high (at Troy, 12/1).
  • USF shot 41 percent (24-for-59) and 75 percent (12-for-16) from the free throw line.
  • Holston dished four assists, one shy of his career best (at Temple, 2/5).
  • Freshman forward Malik Fitts (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) added nine points and seven rebounds.
  • Guerrero finished with seven points, five rebounds and two blocks. He now has 113 career blocks, surpassing Toarlyn Fitzpatrick (112) for sixth most blocks in program history.
  • On Thursday, USF made eight, three-pointers, giving the team 41 this month. The Bulls are participating in the Coaches vs. Cancer Three Point Challenge throughout February. Learn more/donate HERE.

Up Next

The Bulls return home to host UCF in a War on I-4 meeting on March 2 at 7 p.m. Purchase tickets HERE.

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