USF was back home Wednesday night against the Charleston Cougars after an impressive win against the Utah State Aggies last Thursday, in which the Bulls played their most complete game of the season.
In a game that lacked offensive flow at times due to the amount of fouls called, the Bulls stayed undefeated at home, beating a tough Charleston team 81-75.
The Bulls hit a quick three point shot to open the scoring and take a quick 3-0 lead. Charleston would answer that three point shot as they kept the Bulls in check early, building a 16-8 lead. The six day layoff affected the Bulls early on in the game as they could not sustain any offensive rhythm and were sloppy handling the basketball at times as Charleston built what would be their largest lead of the night at eight points. This was the largest deficit that the Bulls have had to face at home this season.
The Bulls would then go on a 27-10 run as they took control of the game, building a 35-26 lead with 5:29 to go in the half. Joseph Pinion led the Bulls with 15 in the first half, and Tristan Beckford added 12 off the bench. The Bulls shot 38% in the half, including 7-of-22 from three point range. USF also owned the boards in the first half, out-rebounding the Cougars 27-17.
In the second half, the two teams traded baskets for the first three and a half minutes as the Bulls maintained their five point lead, 53-48. The Bulls would let Charleston back in the game as the Cougars rallied to tie the game at 55-55 with 14:25 to go in the game. Things got a bit chippy in the second half, and that caused the Bulls to lose a bit of their momentum.
For a two to three minute span, there was a foul called every trip down the floor. As both teams traded foul shots, USF was able to maintain the lead 61-59 with 11:52 to play in the game. It was back and forth for the rest of the second half as Charleston overcame that five point half time deficit to tie the game at 65-65 with 8:19 to play in the game.
As the game went inside the 5:00 minute mark with the Bulls clinging to a one point lead, Pinion hit a three point shot to put the Bulls up 75-71. The Bulls would never be threatened the rest of the way in route to their 81-75 win over the Cougars.
“Proud of our efforts for the most part,” USF coach Bryan Hodgson said. “You know, that’s a good basketball team that’s had a tough early stretch with some injuries, and guys being out. The biggest thing is they had ten days to prepare for us.”
“It was one possession, two possessions for most of the second half, and to win those is, you know, that’s gonna pay dividends. It gives our guys that experience.”
Joe Pinion who lead all scorers with 21 points. Postgame, he talked about being able to play any style and win. “I think it shows that we’re a resilient team, that can win in, you know, multiple ways. If we’re down, we can always come back if we’re up and keep a lead. But tonight we showed up, we got the lead early and then we got down, and then we came back. So I just feel like that just shows how versatile we are,” he said.
Tristan Beckford added 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
With the win over Charleston, the Bulls improve to 6-4 on the season and a perfect 4-0 at home. The Bulls are off until next Wednesday when take a trip to Tuscaloosa to battle the Alabama Crimson Tide. After that, they will return home to face UMBC and the College of Georgia to close out the month of December.