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USF basketball rallies past Albany for first win; Kentucky next

 
Published Nov. 25, 2015

TAMPA — USF heads into Friday afternoon's neutral-site encounter with No. 1 Kentucky lacking an outside threat, solid depth and, according to most, a prayer. But at least one intangible won't be lacking.

Momentum.

The Bulls' season-opening funk came to a sudden, surreal end Tuesday night at the Sun Dome. Junior Chris Perry's dunk of a deflected ball with nine seconds to play, and a Roddy Peters steal at the other end, lifted USF (1-4) to a 63-61 triumph against 2015 NCAA Tournament qualifier Albany (2-3) before an announced crowd of 2,712.

"Just like I designed it," coach Orlando Antigua joked.

"It was just crazy," said Perry, who came up with a perimeter entry pass intended for 6-foot-11 senior Jaleel Cousins. "I was just watching the play. I saw the pass to Jaleel; Jaleel was wide open. But somehow somebody tipped it and then the ball just went in my area and (Cousins) told me to go dunk it."

The bizarre sequence gave USF a 62-61 lead. Freshman Jahmal McMurray's free throw with two seconds left — after Peters' steal — provided the final margin and helped the Bulls avoid tying the 1987-88 team for the program's worst start.

"It's what happens when you commit to defense, when you commit to hustle plays, and things just happen to fall your way when you're doing those kinds of things," said Antigua, whose team finished with an 18-8 run to rally from an eight-point deficit. "And I thought we did a lot of that tonight."

The Bulls' most complete defensive effort to date wasn't without warts. USF hit 1 of 11 3-pointers and is 1-for-21 in its past two games. Early foul trouble — Perry picked up his fourth with 17:16 left — also hurt, and Albany opened the game with a 15-6 rebounding advantage.

But unlike prior contests, the Bulls remained patient offensively (season-low 11 turnovers), asserted themselves on the glass (40-38 rebounding edge) and got an indefatigable effort from Cousins, who notched his second straight double double (13 points, 12 rebounds) in 35 minutes.

"They grew up. They stayed within the system," said Antigua, who faces former boss John Calipari on Friday in Miami. "They didn't break away from the stuff we were trying to do. They kept moving the ball, they kept trying to find guys. We grew as a team."