By Kenneth Cross
SUNRISE, Fla. – The South Florida Bulls grabbed a quick 8-0 lead and never trailed in their 88-72 win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl Classic on Saturday afternoon.
Later, Florida used a dominant inside presence to top sharp-shooting Richmond, 87-76.
South Florida guard Chris Youngblood controlled the first half as he scored ten of his 18 points. He scored nine of those points in the first 8:56 when his first triple gave the Bulls an 18-13 lead.
Leading scorer Selton Miguel hit a jumper and a layup in a 16-4 Bulls run to give them an encompassing 38-21 lead with 2:40 remaining before halftime. Miguel finished with 20 points as he
“I am very proud of our group,” said Abdur-Rahim. “I thought we played hard and we played together and we competed at a high level.”
The three-ball was important in the South Florida attack as the Bulls made 12-of-23 with Miguel, Youngblood, and Jose Placer making three each.
After FSU’s Darin Green, Jr., and Josh Nickelberry also hit a pair of threes to cut the deficit to 50-41, the Bulls used an 8-0 run with a pair of baskets by Brandon Stroud to take a 58-41 lead with 11:20 to play.
They pushed the margin to 74-48 when Miguel hit a three with 5:17 to play.
“When we were up 20, the average team would relax and take bad shots,” explained Youngblood. “The most important part was sticking with it.”