The USF Bulls began the Brian Hodgson era Monday night, tipping the season off against the Florida A&M Rattlers. This USF squad showed up as advertised as the Bulls took out the Rattlers 102-67 to kick off a new era of basketball in Tampa.
USF recorded the second-highest margin of victory (35 points) in a head coach’s debut in American Conference history.
The Bulls were up and down the court at a blistering pace, and the players never met a three-point shot they didn’t like. Just 6,531 were in attendance to witness this resurgence of USF Basketball. This team plays a very entertaining brand of basketball and is only going to get better the more they play together It’s a shame more weren’t there to witness it.
Anytime you can win 102-67, that is a good night’s work. However, USF coach Brian Hodgson thinks a bit differently.
“I don’t think we were great defensively,” he said. “We didn’t execute, to my liking or our standard, on either end of the floor, but at the end of the day, you know, I think our guys answered the bell, and we found a way to win a basketball game, not in the prettiest fashion, and that’s a credit to our guys.”
Florida A&M jumped out to an early 11-7 lead at the 15:54 mark as the Bulls started the night 0-for-3 from three-point range and 2-of-6 from the field.
It was a slow start for the high-octane Bulls offense as they traded baskets with the Rattlers until they were able to take a five-point lead, 23-18, at the 8:10 mark of the first half.
The shots were not falling early on for the Bulls as they started the night 0-of-9 from three-point range and did not make their first three-point shot until 5:48 to go in the half when Wes Enis drilled a three to put the Bulls up 30-18. That would be the first of four three-pointers for Enis in the first half.
Hodgson discussed the slow start for the Bulls from beyond the arc.
“We don’t anticipate that from Joe Pinion and some of these other guys, but obviously Wes (Enis) got us going, started, made some big ones for us, and was able to give us some separation. I mean, this is what we expect.”
The Bulls finished the night 10-of-28 from three (35.7 percent).
Once the Bulls got that big lead, they kept the pressure on and Florida A&M struggled to get anything going the rest of the night. It was a half of mini-runs for the Bulls as they went on three runs of 12-1, 11-0, and 8-0 in the first half. Meanwhile, the Rattlers would go on an 11-0 run late in the first half to cut the Bulls’ lead to 42-31 with 1:52 to play in the half.
But the Bulls’ defense stiffened and Florida A&M hit on just one of eight shots late in the first half, helping the Bulls go to the locker room with a 14-point lead, 47-33. Enis led the Bulls with 12 points in the first half. Four other players had six points for USF.
Florida A&M got into foul trouble late in the half, as the Bulls were 17-of-19 at the line in the first half. The Bulls started the game 0-of-10 from three-point range, but managed to hit four of their last five three-point attempts to finish the half shooting 40.0 percent from three-point land. The Bulls had a 25-14 rebound advantage in the half.
The second half began the way the first half ended, with the Bulls maintaining their aggressive tempo and outscoring the Rattlers 13-4 in the first four minutes of the half to build a lead of 60-37.
With the Bulls up by 30 and the game in hand, USF emptied the bench with under five minutes to go, and the Bulls closed out the 102-67 win.
Enis led the Bulls with 22 points, Josh Omojafo added 17 off the bench, and Isaiah Jones added 21 for the Bulls. Izaiyah Nelson, who had 16 points and 10 rebounds, was awarded the hard hat award by Hodgson.
The Bulls had 23 fast break points. Turnovers and defensive stops were key to creating those fast-break opportunities.
-With that aggressive style of defense that the Bulls play, they forced 21 Florida A@M turnovers, leading to 20 points.
-The largest lead of the night for the Bulls was 38 points.
-Coach Hodgson’s goal is 25 points or fewer for the opponent in the second half. Florida A@M scored 34 points in the second half.
The Bulls are off until Saturday when they travel to Connecticut to play George Washington in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic.
The Bulls will return home to play Coppin State on Wednesday, November 10, at 7:00 p.m.