By Kenneth Cross
TAMPA, Fla. – This 2023-24 basketball season has been a chronicle in the history of South Florida Bulls history and Sunday’s 79-68 win over SMU followed this similar script.
It was the Bulls’ record-setting 13th consecutive win and with weekend losses by the Charlotte 49ers and the Florida Atlantic Owls, it guaranteed the Bulls at least a share of the AAC regular season title. South Florida can win the league outright with a victory in one of its last three games where the Bulls face Charlotte, Tulane, or Tulsa.
Kasean Pryor and Selton Miguel combined for 37
points off the bench as the Bulls used a 9-3 run late in the first half to set up a 34-26 halftime lead in taking the win over the Mustangs. SMU continued tied with Charlotte and FAU for second in the AAC. The 49ers and Owls absorbed losses to Tulsa and Memphis, respectively, over the weekend.
“I was really proud of our players because they stuck to the gameplan, everything but rebounding the ball,” Bulls coach Amir Abdur-Rahim explained. “That’s not an easy task either because that’s (SMU) probably one of the more physical and more athletic teams in our league.”
The rebounding numbers were astounding as SMU outrebounded USF, 45-32, while outrebounding them on the offensive glass, 27-4. The Mustangs then outscored the Bulls, 39-4, on the offensive rebounds.
“I didn’t think we did a great job of attacking rebounds,” said Abdur-Rahim. “I thought we were like tip, tip and let them fall. Against a team like that, you have to go attack the ball and try to rebound it with two hands.”
At 6-10, Pryor has been a consistent player all season in how he can score in the paint or make the three consistently. On the defensive end, he can be a formidable defender on the inside or on the perimeter.
“When you get a guy his size that you can switch onto a guard and he can keep the guard in front of him and contest his shot, it helps you stay out of the rotation,” said Abdur-Rahim.
In addition to the 19 points, Pryor was 6-of-6 from the floor and he made 6-of-8 free throws. He divided his scoring with nine points in the first half and then 10 in the second 20 minutes.
Pryor hit an 18-footer off the right baseline to give the Bulls a 68-55 lead with just under three minutes remaining.
“If you can be 6-10 and move like a guard, but have size like a guy who is 6-10, the man hit the lottery,” said Abdur-Rahim. “His ability to impact the game on both ends of the floor… In basketball, in my opinion, it’s all about rotation.”
Selton Miguel and Chris Youngblood were offensive keys in the second half as Youngblood scored six quick points out of halftime to pace the Bulls to a 43-33 lead with 15:56 remaining.
Miguel then posted nine of his points over five minutes as he scored on a pull-up off the dribble and then nailed a 10-footer off the right base.
“We have to stay focused and whenever we have the opportunity, we have to try to take the opportunity,” said Miguel. “If something goes well, we just have to stay focused and keep trusting each other.”
Guard Ricardo Wright led four Mustangs in double figures with 16 points, which included four three-pointers.
Defensive Stoppers: USF’s defense was much of the Bulls’ story as they held SMU to 34 percent from the floor while SMU attempted 71 field goals and South Florida only shot 43. Again, the rebounding numbers fell in SMU’s favor based on the Bulls’ defense.
Perhaps one of the most important assertions on the defensive end was being able to hold Mustangs leading scorer Zhuric Phelps to 4-of-17 from the field in 28 minutes as he scored only 11 points.
“Coach told me that when he was doing the scouting that he was pretty aggressive, so every time he touches the ball, he is trying to make a play, and make sure anytime he got the ball, we were going to be finding him,” said Miguel.
Phelps leads SMU with 14.6 points per game and is more of a playmaker and driver than a three-point shooter. His length and his abilities on both the offensive the defensive ends come into play for the Mustangs.
“He missed some shots that he normally makes, so we tried to make him make as many contested ones as we could – not go for his shot fakes,” explained Abdur-Rahim.