The USF Bulls were back home Wednesday night to take on the East Carolina Pirates. USF did not disappoint the home crowd, cruising to an 82-71 win over the Pirates.
East Carolina scored the first two points of the game before the Bulls went on an 8-2 run to take an 8-4 lead with 17:46 to play in the half. USF would never look back as they slowly built on that lead over the first half and went into halftime with their largest lead of the night to that point, 44-31.
Josh Omojafo led the Bulls in scoring as he had 14 of the Bulls’ 44 first-half points. Omojafo talked about taking control of the game, scoring 12 of the last 14 points in the first half.
“I think at that point in the game, you know, I was just letting the game come to me,” Omojafo said. “I wasn’t really trying to force anything. And I think that stretch you know set the tone for my team, just to give us that little fire, another little edge to just keep going.”
The Bulls forced six ECU turnovers in the first half, generating 12 points. The Bulls shot 15-of-34 in the first half and made eight three-pointers.
In the second half, ECU and USF traded baskets for the first 10 minutes, and the Bulls held a 64-48 lead with 8:55 to play. But the Pirates would not go away, battling back to cut the lead to 68-58 with five minutes to play in the game.
On the Bulls’ next possession, Wes Enis would hit a three-point shot to stake the Bulls to a 71-58 lead, and USF would never be threatened the rest of the game, winning it 82-71.
One key to the game was the Bulls’ three-point shooting. USF shot 12-of-31 from the arc while holding East Carolina to 6-of-21 shooting from that range. USF also received substantial contributions from the bench as the Bulls had five players score in double figures.
Coach Hodgson emphasized the importance of a deep bench and avoiding reliance on one or two players for most of the scoring. “Yeah, it’s huge,” Hodgson said. “I’m proud of it, and, man, they celebrate each other’s success, which is probably what I’m most proud of.”
The Bulls were led by Omojafo, who had 18 points in the win. Izaiyah Nelson, Wes Enis, CJ Brown, and Devin Haid also scored in double digits for the Bulls.
In the not-too-early NCAA March Madness predictions, The Athletic has USF earning a #12 seed and playing the #5 seed Florida Gators in the first round in Philadelphia. There is still a lot of basketball to be played, but the basketball world is paying attention to the USF Bulls.
Coach Hodgson is working to have USF play its best basketball in late March. “Our goal is to compete to win the American Conference, and we want to put ourselves in a position to get proper seeding,” he said. “I don’t care what’s been done in this conference before. I came here to be in that conversation.”
With the win, USF improves to 11-6 overall and 3-1 in conference play. ECU is now 0-5 in conference play and 5-12 on the season. They have lost five games in a row.
USF returns home to play in a nationally televised game on ESPN at 2 p.m. Sunday against Wichita State.