USF hosted VCU in the second round of the NIT Tournament on Sunday night. The Bulls came up short in a comeback effort that sent VCU to the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Guard Kasean Pryor tallied the first seven points of the game for the Bulls as the two sides each scored quickly and often. After three successful free throws for guard Chris Youngblood, USF found themselves up 13-12 five minutes into the first half.
The game remained even as the game clock neared 10 minutes in the half with a USF lead at 19-18.
VCU then began to pull away with the score after a series of turnovers by USF. Guard Jose Placer brought the Bulls back to even at 28-28 following consecutives conversions on mid-range jump shots as the first half ran under five minutes remaining.
The Bulls ended the half on a rough offensive stretch by missing on all of their final six field goal attempts. This allowed for the Rams to take a narrow lead at 32-30 as each side entered their respective tunnels for halftime.
The struggle continued for USF coming out of the locker room as they seemed unable to find their groove offensively. However, they were able to maintain well defensively and kept themselves behind VCU by only three points five minutes into the half at a score of 42-39.
USF fell down further to a nine point deficit as the game clock wound down to under ten minutes. However, guard Jayden Reid provided a much needed spark to the Bulls offense as he sunk a three point shot to bring the score back within six points at 56-50; which electrified both the USF team and home crowd.
With just under five minutes remaining in the game, another three points from Reid and four more crucial points from Chris Youngblood brought the Bulls back within one point at 60-59.
As the clock neared two minutes left, each side traded a score until VCU was able to draw further ahead again at 66-61. Youngblood responded quickly for USF by putting up a layup that brought their deficit to three points with only one minute remaining.
Guard Selton Miguel converted on a layup for the Bulls with 20 seconds left in the game but was unable to tie the score after drawing a foul. After intentionally fouling to try and mount a last second comeback, USF came up short and lost by a final score of 70-65.
Despite coming up short, Chris Youngblood dominated the scoring of the game as he put up 28 points. Additionally, Kasean Pryor contributed another 14 points to the final score.
Following the loss, USF head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim said, “we set a standard this year, now I’ve got to find a way to raise that standard.” Abdur-Rahim also said, “y’all thought Chris Youngblood was good this year… it’s about to be scary [next year],” when he was asked about the future of the program.
For the Bulls, their season ends in the second round of the NIT. However, it was a season that they can be proud of and use as a stepping stone for further success in the future. USF finishes their 2023-24 campaign as regular season American conference champions and will aim to achieve more next year as they continue to build upon a young team.