USF men lose to Virginia Tech in ‘Bubbleville’

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Virginia Tech broke open a tight game with a run in the latter part of the first half and USF fell 76-58 in the “Bubbleville” setup at the Mohegan Sun casino resort on Sunday.

With both teams playing their second game in as many days, USF trailed 21-18 after an Alexis Yetna putback layup with 7:22 left in the first half. The Hokies then had a 15-5 run to end the half and take control against the Bulls (1-2).

David Collins scored 10 points for the Bulls, making 3-of-6 from the free-throw line to become the all-time leader in career free throws made in the American Athletic Conference. Collins pushed his total to 438, passing former Cincinnati guard Jarron Cumberland (437).

Caleb Murphy scored 11 points and Michael Durr 10 with seven rebounds for USF.

Tyrece Radford scored 21 points for Virginia Tech, which has beaten No. 3 Villanova in overtime the night before.

Virginia Tech shot 54 percent against USF.

Virginia Tech was caught up in the coronavirus drama at Bubbleville. Temple, originally scheduled as its second game, went into quarantine after a player tested positive. The Owls were replaced at the last minute by Villanova.

USF and Virginia Tech had not played since 1995, when both were in the Metro Conference. Hokies coach Mike Young had been 0-3 against the Bulls’ Brian Gregory, facing him when the two were at other schools.