Photo by Jorden Pompey | The Crow’s Nest.
By Jorden Pompey
In a thrilling match on March 5, basketball fans witnessed a historic performance as the University of South Florida secured its 15th consecutive win defeating Tulane University 85-72.
The Yuengling Center was sold out for the third straight home game as the Bulls stand 23-5 overall and 16-1 in conference play.
USF had four players score double digits, with senior Chris Youngblood leading the team with a career high of 29 points, shooting 66% from the field. Youngblood additionally added five assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Senior Selton Miguel finished the game with 12 points along with two blocks and two steals.
Freshman Jayden Reid scored 11 points, shooting a perfect 3-3 from three point range.
As a team, the Bulls shot 100% from the free throw line for the 10th time this season.
“We know once we get our defense going there’s no telling what we can do from there,” Youngblood said in the post game press conference.
Junior forward Kaysean Pryor had a team high of five rebounds along with his 13-point performance.
By halftime, USF owned a one point lead that then extended to seven points with three minutes left in the second half.
As the clocks hit zero, confetti started falling as players celebrated not only the win, but the end of an era for its three seniors and the American Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship secured last Saturday against Charlotte.
Seniors Selton Miguel, Sam Hines Jr. and Jose Placer were honored during senior night.
Miguel who transferred from Kansas State University in 2022 and was one of the three players who remained on the roster after head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim took over the helm.
“Just blessed to be in this position. It’s been a lot of ups and down, but to finish as a champion and finish with a new family,” Miguel said.
Placer committed to USF in May of 2023 transferring from the University of North Florida playing for the Ospreys for three seasons.
Hines Jr. started his career at USF in 2021 after transferring from Denver University where he played for one season. In the 22-23 season, Hines Jr. was awarded the AAC Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
USF has been on the rise since claiming the AAC championship. March Madness predictions has the Bulls placed as the 11th or 12th seed in the Midwest region according to ESPN and CBS Sports.
After the matchup against Tulsa, attention is on the AAC Tournament.
As the number one seed, USF will have a first-round bye and will play the number eight or nine seed on March 15.
From an attendance of 1,188 playing against Edward Waters University to three consecutive sold-out games, head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim has embraced the fans at the Yuengling Center and the attention across the nation.
“Do you know how cool is that people are recognizing what’s going on in Tampa Bay from all across the country? You want to impact, you want to make people feel special and that’s my whole thing,” Abdur-Rahim said.
USF will now travel to Tulsa, Okla. to take on the Golden Hurricanes at 3 p.m. on March 9 for the season finale and will be available to watch on ESPN+.
