ORLANDO — Before practice Monday, USF coach Orlando Antigua praised his young program and said he had seen several glimpses that made him optimistic that it was ready to turn the corner.
But Wednesday at UCF, that glimmer quickly faded.
The Bulls never led after the opening two minutes and struggled to recover from an early 15-point deficit and a left ankle injury to leading scorer Corey Allen in a 73-62 loss to the Knights at CFE Arena.
USF (7-18, 1-11 American Athletic Conference) shot 36 percent (25-of-70) from the floor, including 4-of-21 from beyond the arc, and has dropped 10 straight, its longest skid in two years.
A frustrated Allen, who missed most of the first half after rolling his ankle before returning in the second, assessed that the team "took a lot of steps back."
"I feel like in the first half, we didn't compete at all," he said. "Once you give someone a (double-digit) lead, it's kind of hard to come back from that, no matter who the team is. … We don't have the luxury to give anybody (that) lead."
Both teams opened at a torrid pace, with the Bulls trailing by one six minutes in. But the shots quickly stopped falling.
The Knights (10-13, 3-9) took advantage with a six-minute, 14-0 run spearheaded by two alley-oop dunks by 255-pound forward Staphon Blair.
"The surprising thing is that we shot the ball really well here in shootaround and in practice (Tuesday) in the gym," Antigua said. "But, you know, a young team on the road, in this environment, you don't know how they're going to respond."
USF chiseled the deficit to nine at halftime, then to five as Anthony Collins (six points, eight rebounds) and Bo Zeigler (10 points) scored the first two baskets of the second half.
But that's as close at the Bulls got as UCF, which shot 49 percent, pulled away to take a 20-point lead midway through the half.
As the final seconds ticked off, UCF's student section, which was filled to capacity, taunted the Bulls with chants of, "Just like football, just like football!" UCF beat USF 16-0 in Tampa.
"We're working really hard individually to get better, and guys feel better and sense they're getting better every day," Antigua said. "We might have taken a step back, but that's okay. We'll go back to it, we'll get back to the drawing board and continue to work."