USF men’s basketball team battles but loses to Tulsa

TAMPA — A much more competitive effort still ended in defeat for USF.
After back-to-back double-digit losses, the Bulls played Tulsa tough down to the wire before falling 63-54 on Sunday afternoon, their sixth straight loss in the series.

USF (8-16, 1-10 AAC) held the Golden Hurricane to 29.1 percent shooting (16-of-55) from the field, including 28.6 percent (8-of-28) from 3-point range. But the Bulls were pushed around in the paint and outrebounded 44-32.

"I wasn't pleased with our defensive effort the other night, and I thought our guys responded (Sunday) defensively," USF coach Brian Gregory said.
"The one area that obviously is still a stumbling block for us is finishing the defensive possession with a rebound. The physicality that you have to play with in this league, especially when you go against offensive rebounders at the caliber of Junior Etou and (Martins) Igbanu. Those guys go every single time. They're physical, they're long."

Etou had 17 points and 12 rebounds for his sixth double double of the season, and DaQuan Jeffries added 16 points for Tulsa (13-10, 6-5), which took over sole possession of fourth place in the conference. The top four seeds receive a first-round bye to the conference tournament quarterfinals on March 9.

After trailing 33-30 early in the second half, Tulsa outscored the Bulls 22-5 over six minutes, with seven points from Etou. USF rallied and got within five points with 1:21 left in the game but got no closer.
Stephan Jiggetts led USF with 22 points and seven rebounds. David Collins added 11 points.