Last week, USF sent shockwaves around the NCAA as they downed a top ten ranked Memphis team. This Sunday, the Bulls looked to continue their hot streak in a home matchup against Wichita St. Historically, USF has faltered when matching up against the Shockers with a 1-9 overall record. Sunday, though, USF was able to put a dent in Wichita St’s winning percentage against them.
Both teams matched each other offensively in the early going of the game. As they got close to the midway point of the first half, the Bulls found themselves just slightly behind at 16-14. USF guard Jose Placer led the offensive attack by converting on an early three point attempt and adding multiple points to the early game score.
As the first half continued on, Wichita St slowly began to increase their lead over a diminishing Bulls offense. Wichita St pulled out ahead 31-23 before USF had any sort of response. At that point the USF defense stood firm, and guard Kasean Pryor got to work in putting some points on the board through way of multiple free throw conversions. As the first half came to a close, USF was able to pull themselves back into it by drawing their deficit to only three at a score of 35-32.
Coming out of halftime, Kasean Pryor continued to score as he sunk a three point shot to draw the game even at 37-37 early in the half. With the game coming closer to the end, the Bulls offense turned on in a way they had not been able to do earlier in the game. Pryor continued his offensive onslaught as the Bulls eventually found themselves up 10 off a mid-range shot by Jose Placer, which put USF up 51-41 with a quarter of the game left to go.
With the game getting closer to the end, USF started playing the clock, attempting to take as much time off the end of the half as they could with each possession. However, Wichita St capitalized on the opportunities they had and cut the Bulls lead down to just five at 64-59 with five minutes remaining. The Shockers kept themselves in it, coming even closer to taking the lead back by getting within two points with only 25 seconds remaining. USF would manage to keep Wichita St at bay though, as a late three point shot and consequent free throws from Kasean Pryor sealed the game with a final score of 72-68.
The key players in the USF win were undoubtedly Kasean Pryor and Jose Placer. Pryor finished the game 6-of-21 on field goals and was perfect on free throw opportunities which led him to be the team’s leading scorer at 25 points. Placer was 6-of-7 on field goals which contributed to an important 17 point performance for the team.
For USF, they now move to 11-5 on the season and sit at 4-1 in conference play. They are also winners of three straight in American conference (AAC) games. They will prepare to take on Temple this upcoming Wednesday in another important conference game.
Wichita St, meanwhile, has now lost seven straight games.
USF’s Kasean Pryor over the last three games:
25 PPG
8 RPGThe Bulls are 11-5 on the season and have won eight of their last nine games 🤟 pic.twitter.com/8kR1WWFy1I
— FL Teams (@FLTeams) January 21, 2024