An interesting challenge this week with Navy. They’ll need the D to continue to play well to have a shot today.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (November 8, 2024) – The University of South Florida men’s basketball team was back on the court for a road game with the College of Charleston on Friday. The Bulls had three players finish in double digits but fell to the Cougars 86-71.



South Florida fell to 0-2 on the season, while the College of Charleston improved to 2-0.



The Bulls got the game's first points on a dunk by Jamille Reynolds.



The Cougars followed with a 6-0 run and took a 6-2 lead into the first media timeout. South Florida was unfazed as Quincy Ademokoya drained a 3-pointer and gave the Bulls a 10-8 lead.



The College of Charleston extended its lead to 29-24, which was the Cougars' largest lead in the first half, with just over three minutes left to play in the half. The Bulls were resilient and battled within one, 33-32, as the game went to the break.



Ademokoya had a team-high 10 points at the half. As a team, South Florida held the College of Charleston to 18.2 percent from 3-point range.



The Cougars opened the second half with an 11-0 run and extended their lead to 44-32. The College of Charleston stretched out its lead to 17, 63-46, with just over nine minutes left in regulation.



The Bulls continued to battle and cut the deficit to 12, 73-61, with 4:34 left on the clock. South Florida never gave up but could not overcome the double-digit deficit. College of Charleston claimed an 86-71 victory.



Ademokoya and Kasen Jennings tied for a team-high 14 points. Ademokoya and Jennings added two rebounds. Jennings dished out a team-high four assists. CJ Brown tallied a career-high 11 points to go along with three rebounds. Brandon Stroud brought down a team-best nine rebounds to go along with six points.



Ante Brzovic, the CAA Preseason Player of the Year, led all scorers with 34 points, with nine rebounds and four assists. CJ Fulton finished with 16 points, while Deywilk Tavarez added 12.



Notables

· Quincy Ademokoya has gone for double-digit points in back-to-back games.

· Kasen Jennings posted back-to-back games with double-digit points.

· CJ Brown produced his first game in double digits.



Up Next

The Bulls are back on the court for the home opener on November 12. South Florida welcomes Arkansas-Pine Bluff for a 7 p.m. tip on ESPN+.

USF has 2 get right games at home coming up against Arkansas Pine Bluff and West Georgia. Once again this was smart scheduling by CAAR and ADMK. They had to assume that those first 2 games would be tough and just in case neither went in the favor of the Bulls, a couple of pain relief games would fix all that is wrong. While I don't think these game will fix all the coaching issues, they can fix one of the main things and that is the rotation. This is the perfect opportunity for CBF to man up and make some changes in the starting lineup and use the minutes more wisely.

I would sit Jayden Reid in favor of CJ Brown, similar to how CAAR would do with Placer and Reid last season. CAAR was very hard on his PGs because he knew how important that position was to having a good offense. Reid is trying to do more than his physical body is capable of and live up to his preseason All AAC 3rd team rankings. He might can get there, but CJ Brown is more talented and playing smarter, and harder right now. The true freshman is my starter at PG. Also it is time for Kobe Knox to be booted out of his overly secure starting job. Karter Knox is in Arkansas and CAAR isn't here to maybe run sets for him to gain confidence. I'll start Quincy Ademokoya in place of Kobe Knox. Jimmie Williams needs more playing time and should be the first guard off the bench. He can sub for Jennings and/or Q. Jimmie seems like the type that needs to be in the flow of the game consistently to get the best out of him. No reason why he isn't getting 20 minutes per game and getting up at least 10 shots with the way he is capable of scoring. The coaches need to give him a specific role like Miguel had last season and let Jimmie cook. Same thing apply to Green. He needs to start over the wild playing Stroud. One of the things that USF was known for last season was a great scoring bench led by Miguel and either Reid or Placer. Get back to that.

Starters
CJ Brown
Jennings
Quincy
Green
Reynolds

Bench
Reid
Williams(6th man)
Knox
Stroud

Minutes as needed
Walker
Wright

Also if Reynolds proves to hard to coach and lazy of defense, he can be replaced as a starter and USF can go small at the 5 by starting Green or Walker there which puts Stroud back in the starting lineup. The interior defense needs to get better and sometimes having size doesn't matter if you don't know how to use it. I'm thinking these next 2 games at home where the team can feel the love will help them settle down and play to their capabilities.