Photo by Kendall Bulkiewicz | The Crow’s Nest
By Kendall Bulkiewicz
Fueled by a dominant 19-2 run in the final minutes, South Florida surged past Tulsa with a 63-56 victory Saturday at the Yuengling Center. Guard Kobe Knox’s double-double performance led the way as the Bulls improved to 10-8 overall and 3-2 in American Athletic Conference play.
The game was a see-saw affair early, but the Bulls surged ahead 13-7 midway through the first half after a 7-0 run. Forward De’Ante Green scored five points during the spurt, while Knox electrified the crowd with a dunk. USF pushed its advantage to 22-13 after guard Jimmie Williams’ steal led to a Knox alley-oop. But Tulsa closed the first half on a 13-1 run, holding the Bulls without a field goal over the final four minutes and heading to halftime up 30-25.
Trailing 54-44 with five minutes remaining, the Bulls surged both on defense and offense with physical stops and clutch scores.
Threes by guards CJ Brown and Jayden Reid knocked it down to three, Brandon Stroud drove to one, and then a Knox layup gave USF its first lead since the first half.
A Brown steal-and-one pushed the lead to 58-54 with under a minute to go. Knox made it a four-point game with a 3-pointer and Brown threw down a dunk in the final seconds to cap his career-high 16-point night.
The comeback proved to interim head coach Ben Fletcher that his guys simply refused to quit on Saturday night.
“Our guys didn’t quit. They believed in each other, and that’s what made the difference,” Fletcher said. “CJ, Kobe, and the entire group stepped up when it mattered most.
The second half picked up where the physical first had left off with neither side building much separation. Brown added six of the Bulls points prior to the finale.
“CJ’s energy was infectious,” Fletcher said. “He made big plays on both ends of the floor and showed why he’s such a valued piece of this team.”
During the final minute, Brown had a career-high 16 points, five rebounds and four steals, including the pivotal one. In addition to Knox’s 12 points, Green had 11 points, five rebounds and three steals. Reid added 11 points, five rebounds and three steals.
The Bulls forced Tulsa into 15 turnovers, leading to a 20-8 advantage in points off turnovers. It was USF’s second-highest win of the season, defeating Tulsa 46-39.
Knox, who had his 10th double-figure game, said the team’s attention to practice paid dividends in the win.
“Coach Fletcher has been pushing us to close games out strong,” Knox said. “We just stayed locked in and trusted the game plan.”
The Bulls travel to their next opponent, facing off against Charlotte in North Carolina on Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. airing on ESPN+.
