USF, down 20 in second half, stuns No
Jan 18, 2024, 10:02 PM ET
MEMPHIS, Tenn.– After getting away several games with last-second shots, No. 10 Memphis finally got burned.Kasean Pryor made a go-ahead complimentary toss with 4 seconds left, and South Florida rallied from a 20-point deficit to stun the Tigers 74-73 on Thursday night.Pryor completed with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and reserve Selton Miguel led USF with 23 points, going 5-of-10 from 3-point range. The Bulls(10-4, 3-1 American Athletic Conference )have actually won eight of nine and ended a 10-game winning streak for the Tigers(15-3, 4-1), who hadn’t lost since a narrow defeat at Mississippi on Dec. 2. Memphis moved into the leading 10 today. “This one injures since we worked so difficult to get to this level,”Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said.South Florida became the fourth team considering that 2010-11 to come back from 20 points down to beat an
AP top-10 opponent, and the first unranked group to do so since February 2011, when Colorado upset No. 5 Texas, according to ESPN Stats & Information.Thursday’s success snapped the Bulls’38-game losing streak to AP-ranked opponents, consisting of 31 straight losses versus ranked conference opponents.Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim was splashed with a celebratory pail filled with water when he got in the postgame locker room.”It’s not about us,”Abdur-Rahim said.
“It has to do with the University of South Florida. … This is a terrific win for the University of South Florida, and this group of kids who enable us to push them.” With the score tied at 73-all, Pryor took an inbound pass alone in the paint and raised for a dunk however took a tough nasty from Nae’Qwan Tomlin. Pryor made the first totally free throw but missed the second.Jahvon Quinerly, who hit two game-winning 3-pointers throughout Memphis’winning streak– versus SMU and Tulsa– had an opportunity to do it again, however this time he missed a 3 at the buzzer.Asked if Memphis got contented with the early huge lead and the gets away in close games, Tomlin responded:”Probably.” “[ South Florida] came out and played real hard, so credit to them,” he said.David Jones led Memphis with 25 points and Quinerly ended up with 15. Chris Youngblood had 13 points for USF.Memphis led 52-32 early in the second half, but USF responded by going on a 9-0 run with Pryor, Kobe Knox and Brandon Stroud each
making a 3. The Bulls inched better throughout the period, and Jayden Reid tied it with a layup with 37 seconds left,
his only basket of the game. A turnover by Quinerly helped establish USF for Pryor’s definitive complimentary throw.Jones had 18 points in the first half, consisting of a run of 11 directly, and Memphis led 47-32 at the break. The Tigers worked in shift, ending up the half with a 17-0 advantage in fast-break points and scoring 14 points off eight Bulls turnovers.
“Bad loss, “Hardaway said.” National TV. Scoring 26 points in the 2nd half after scoring 46 in the first. But when you are not playing team basketball that can take place.” Abdur-Rahim stated he thinks the Bulls have the capacity for more remarkable wins this season.
“We’re not going to get drunk off success,” he said.The Associated Press contributed to this report.