Bulls and Spartans to meet for first time since 2011
Matchup: USF (0-0) vs. University of Tampa (0-0)
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 30
Time: 7 p.m. EST
Location: Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center (10,411)
TV: None
Radio: AM 820 | USF Bulls Unlimited (Jim Lighthall, Neil Solondz)
Follow: Listen | Live Stats | Twitter
TAMPA, OCT. 29, 2018– The USF men’s basketball team makes its 2018-19 debut on Tuesday at 7 p.m. when the Bulls welcome crosstown rival the University of Tampa to the Yuengling Center for an exhibition game that features free admission.
USF has gone a perfect 14-0 in exhibition games since 2005 and has defeated the Spartans twice during that stretch, a 79-64 win in 2008 and a 75-43 victory in 2011. The Bulls and Spartans have met four times during the regular season as well, with USF claiming a 71-54 victory in 1989 in the most recent matchup.
USF enters the 2018-19 season with high expectations after the Bulls closed last season by winning two of their final three games and nearly knocked off Memphis in the opening round of the 2018 American Athletic Conference Tournament. Sophomore guard David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) returns after a freshman campaign that saw him land on the AAC All-Rookie Team. Collins averaged 10.0 points per game, which included a 30-point performance against Memphis, and ranked third on the team in both assists and steals.
The Bulls also return senior Nikola Scekic (Belgrade, Serbia), who started 29 games last season, and sophomore Justin Brown (Birmingham, Ala.), who averaged 5.5 points per game and shot 31.8 percent from three-point range off the bench.
Three Bulls will also make their highly-anticipated debuts on Tuesday, as senior T.J. Lang (Mobile, Ala.), Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and Alexis Yetna (Paris, France) will don the Green and Gold for the first time after sitting out last season.
THE OPPONENT
Tampa finished the 2017-18 season with a 10-16 overall record and a 6-14 mark in league play. The Spartans lost three of their final five games last season and were just 2-8 away from Tampa. Senior guard Pat Bacon paced the Spartans with 19.0 points and 4.0 assists per game while ranking fourth on the team with 4.1 rebounds per game.
Richard Schmidt begins his 35th season as head coach at the University of Tampa and was inducted into the UT Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004. Schmidt has won 667 with the Spartans and has produced a total of 30 winning seasons.
NOTABLES
Matchup: USF (0-0) vs. University of Tampa (0-0)
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 30
Time: 7 p.m. EST
Location: Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center (10,411)
TV: None
Radio: AM 820 | USF Bulls Unlimited (Jim Lighthall, Neil Solondz)
Follow: Listen | Live Stats | Twitter
TAMPA, OCT. 29, 2018– The USF men’s basketball team makes its 2018-19 debut on Tuesday at 7 p.m. when the Bulls welcome crosstown rival the University of Tampa to the Yuengling Center for an exhibition game that features free admission.
USF has gone a perfect 14-0 in exhibition games since 2005 and has defeated the Spartans twice during that stretch, a 79-64 win in 2008 and a 75-43 victory in 2011. The Bulls and Spartans have met four times during the regular season as well, with USF claiming a 71-54 victory in 1989 in the most recent matchup.
USF enters the 2018-19 season with high expectations after the Bulls closed last season by winning two of their final three games and nearly knocked off Memphis in the opening round of the 2018 American Athletic Conference Tournament. Sophomore guard David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) returns after a freshman campaign that saw him land on the AAC All-Rookie Team. Collins averaged 10.0 points per game, which included a 30-point performance against Memphis, and ranked third on the team in both assists and steals.
The Bulls also return senior Nikola Scekic (Belgrade, Serbia), who started 29 games last season, and sophomore Justin Brown (Birmingham, Ala.), who averaged 5.5 points per game and shot 31.8 percent from three-point range off the bench.
Three Bulls will also make their highly-anticipated debuts on Tuesday, as senior T.J. Lang (Mobile, Ala.), Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and Alexis Yetna (Paris, France) will don the Green and Gold for the first time after sitting out last season.
THE OPPONENT
Tampa finished the 2017-18 season with a 10-16 overall record and a 6-14 mark in league play. The Spartans lost three of their final five games last season and were just 2-8 away from Tampa. Senior guard Pat Bacon paced the Spartans with 19.0 points and 4.0 assists per game while ranking fourth on the team with 4.1 rebounds per game.
Richard Schmidt begins his 35th season as head coach at the University of Tampa and was inducted into the UT Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004. Schmidt has won 667 with the Spartans and has produced a total of 30 winning seasons.
NOTABLES
- USF Head Coach Brian Gregory has won at least 16 games in year two in each of his two previous coaching stops.
- David Collins averaged 15.7 points per game over the final 10 games of last season.
- USF is 14-0 in exhibition games since the start of the 2005 season and 2-0 against Tampa during that stretch.
- USF defeated Flagler, 94-66, last season in its only exhibition game of the season.
