The USF Bulls notched their seventh win of the season Sunday afternoon, defeating the UMBC Retrievers 94-69.
After a tough road loss to Alabama on Wednesday night, the Bulls were back home and did not disappoint the 5509 fans that showed up as the Bulls controlled the game from start to finish.
For the first six and a half minutes, the Bulls and UMBC traded baskets as the game was tied 13-13 at the 13:26 mark of the first half.
Then, USF went on a 32-16 run to close out the first half, powered by tenacious defense and winning the battle on the boards as the Bulls took a 45-29 lead to the locker room at the break.
The Bulls’ defense forced seven turnovers in the half and owned a plus-seven advantage on the boards. The Bulls also took good care of the basketball, committing just two turnovers in the half, which helped them build a big halftime lead.
Izaiyah Nelson led the Bulls with 10 points in the first half, while Josh Omojafo and Jos Pinion added nine to propel the Bulls to the 16-point halftime lead.
In the second half, the Bulls built on that halftime lead. Joe Pinion hit a three point shot, and that was followed by a three-pointer by Davin Haid, to put the Bulls up by 22, 63-41, with 13:09 left in the game.
The Bulls would extend the lead to 26 points with 8:30 left in the game, and UMBC would never threaten the rest of the way.
USF did get a little sloppy with the basketball later in the second half and had some defensive mental lapses as UMBC cut the lead to 19 with 6:37 to play.
Coach Hodgson quickly called a timeout and gently reminded the team that it didn’t matter if they were up by 30 or five points. You have to play the same way all the time.
“Our standard is our standard,” Hodgson said. “Don’t care what the score is. We play USF basketball no matter what. I don’t ever want to change what we’re doing, or who we are based on the score, that’s a recipe for failure down the road.”
The Bulls would refocus and get back to playing basketball up to the USF standards, and the Bulls were able to close out UMBC and cruise to the 94-69 win.
With the win, the Bulls remain unbeaten at home and improved to 7-5 overall.
Joseph Pinion led all scorers with 29 points as he hit on seven three-pointers and received a nice ovation as he left the game with under two minutes to play.
Izaiyah Nelson was also a key factor in the USF win. Nelson recorded another double-double, as he scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Nelson has helped the Bulls climb to a No. 2 ranking in the country in offensive rebounds, as they are averaging 16.4 per game.
Josh Omojafo would add 11 points for the Bulls.
With the 94 points the Bulls scored Sunday, they remain at their average of 89 points per game, which currently ranks 25th in the country. If USF continues to score at this torrid pace, it would be the highest-scoring offense in program history.
Coach Hodgson said what he likes about this team as conference play approaches.
“I think one of the good things would probably be our growth, and you know, how far we’ve come. I think one of the other positives is our freshmen, are starting to play, like, sophomores,” Hodgson said.
“You know, early on, I was playing eight, maybe nine guys a night. We played 11 tonight.”
The Bulls have just one more non-conference game on the schedule before conference play begins. That will be against Georgia College and State University next Monday at 4 PM at the Yuengling Center.