TAMPA, Fla., FEB. 4, 2018 – The Bulls cut the Tulsa lead down to as little as five with 1:21 remaining in the game but were unable to complete the comeback in a 63-54 loss on Sunday afternoon.

Stephan Jiggetts (Forestville, Md.) led all scorers with 22 points, his fifth 20-plus point game of the season and finished one point short of his season high. He also led the Bulls on the glass with a season-high seven rebounds. Jiggetts was 6-for-13 from the field, including 4-of-7 from the three-point line. The four made threes ties his season high.

USF got another strong effort from freshman David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio), who followed his career-high 21-point effort against Memphis with 11 points on Sunday, the second-most for the Bulls. Collins filled the stat sheet with a career-high five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

Payton Banks (Orange, Calif.) scored all of his points off of the three ball, finishing with nine points. He also added four rebounds and tied his career high with four assists.

Isaiah Manderson (Bronx, N.Y.) gave the Bulls a strong second half, scoring six of his eight points in the frame and collecting all of his four rebounds.

As a team, the Bulls held Tulsa to 29.1 percent (16-for-55) from the field, including 28.6 percent (8-for-28) from three. The Bulls shot 39.2 percent (20-for-51) in the game and were 38.1 percent (8-for-21) from three.

Key Stats
12 – The Bulls had 12 assists on 20 made baskets in the game. Terrence Samuel and Payton Banks each had four to tie for the team lead.

23 – Tulsa was 23-for-27 (85.2 percent) from the free throw line, compared to 6-for-11 for the Bulls.

Quotable
Head Coach Brian Gregory on the defensive effort:
“I wasn’t pleased with our defensive effort the other night, and I thought our guys responded today defensively. 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.”

Gregory on the overall effort offensively:
“I thought our effort was much better today. We shared the ball better today. We had a couple turnovers against their half-court trap, but once we got that, offensively I thought we did some good things. They’re a very good defensive team. It’s the first time we’ve seen the activity of a zone like that all year long, and I thought some of our guys played well. Jiggetts played extremely well today, good bounce-back for him. I thought David (Collins) played really well, and Isaiah (Manderson) had a good second half, especially offensively.”

Notable
Stephan Jiggetts’ 22-point effort is his 16th double-figure game of the season and the 60th of his career.
Nikola Scekic (Belgrade, Serbia) had a career-high three blocks in the game. He also added three rebounds.
David Collins had his second straight double-digit scoring game, the first time he has done that in his career.

Up Next
The Bulls hit the road to take on UConn on Wednesday night in Storrs, Conn. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNU.