By Ken Cross
TAMPA – Ben Fletcher assumed the South Florida basketball program upon the devastating loss of Amir Abdur-Rahim last fall. Fletcher has impressively transitioned the Bulls and on Wednesday night, USF defined it’s character in coming from 14 points down to defeat Rice, 69-64, at Yuengling Center.
South Florida was without center Jamille Reynolds due to an illness and when De’Ante Green went down about four minutes into the game, the Bulls had to scramble as rotations changed with two post players out and the idea of attack became paramount with the shorter roster.
“The biggest thing was they were a physical bunch,” said Fletcher. “Knowing we didn’t have Daniel (Tobiloba) or Jamille, quickness was going to have to be our answer. What we wanted to do is get those big guys on the perimeter so now, our guys would have a chance to drive it without.”
This opened the lanes for the guards as Quincy Ademokoya made three triples while Jayden Reid shifted back to the point when CJ Brown picked up his third foul.
Ademokoya and Kasen Jennings, key role players in the rotation, entered the game and played at a high level. Ademokoya recorded the first double-double of his career with 12 points and 12 rebounds while Jennings’ 17 points were his season high.
Ademokoya stressed that rebounding was of the most importance as he capitalized on those 12 boards.
“I did it naturally,” said Ademokoya. “If we just worry about the group and put everything else to the side and just play naturally, that’s South Florida Basketball. We were down a big fella going into the game, so we were like, ‘Let’s get on the boards.’”
Rice outrebounded South Florida, 41-37, but the Bulls managed the backboards, 19-14, in the second half.
“These past few games we were getting out-rebounded so it’s just a toughness thing,” Ademokoya explained. “I think going into the game, we had to be tough or we had no shot. It reflected throughout the game.”
Jennings scored seven consecutive points in the second half as South Florida took a 47-43 lead with 10:49 to go.
“My teammates told me just trust your work,” said Jennings. “I worked really hard to go out there and just shy away from the moment, so it was being free, letting my work show. That makes it easy for me.”
USF was behind that proverbial eight-ball early in the game when Rice took an 11-3 lead in the first three minutes. Brandon Stroud and Kobe Knox were able to combine for eight points in a row before the Owls took their biggest lead at 32-18 with 2:12 remaining.
“The reason it got to 14, we had a couple of turnovers, we were going too fast early on in that first half and led to some run outs for them,” said Fletcher. “They hit a couple of threes, so we just had to settle in and not play as fast.
Ademokoya, then, hit his second and third triples of the evening with South Florida on it’s 21-2 run. The Bulls took their first lead of the game when Kameren Wright flushed a slam in transition for a 36-34 advantage with 17:33 remaining.
South Florida trailed 32-18 with 2:12 remaining until halftime. Over the 4:49 span until Wright gave the Bulls their first lead, USF’s defense rose in holding Rice to 0-of-8 from the floor and forced four turnovers.
Reid again showed how he is an underrated guard, nationally, as he reassumed the point after Brown was in foul trouble. He finished with nine points in 36 minutes, four rebounds, three assists, and only two turnovers.
“His ability to get to the paint is second to none,” Fletcher said. “Now, he attacks some, but he kicked it out and found guys. He may not have gotten the assist, but he got the hockey assist. He skipped it out to Kasen Jennings who gets it to ‘Q’ who makes threes.”
Denver Anglin led the Owls with 17 points as they dropped their sixth consecutive game.