TAMPA, NOV. 10, 2019 – USF turned in another strong defensive effort by forcing 28 turnovers and collecting 18 steals, but Derryck Thornton scored a game-high 22 points to lead Boston College to a 74-60 victory Sunday afternoon at the Yuengling Center.
“Give Boston College a lot of credit. They really played well today and really hurt us on the glass. Mitchell dominated the game and only took four shots. He had 13 rebounds, five offensive, six assists and only one turnover. Thornton from the point guard position did a great job of running his team. We didn’t defend well enough and we got out of sorts. We played really hard but kind of got over-juiced on our defense. Offensively, we’ve got to be able to make some open shots. We probably left 10 to 15 points on the rim on missed layups in the first half. You can’t do that against the quality of opponents that we’re now playing.” ~ Brian Gregory
Nik Popovic finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, and Julian Rishwain added 11 points and three rebounds off the bench. David Collins led USF with 19 points and seven steals, while Laquincy Rideau had 14 points and Ezacuras Dawson III tied his career high with 11 points.
A Michael Durr free throw gave USF a 26-17 lead with 7:17 left in the first half, but Boston College closed on a 26-6 run and used a three-pointer at the buzzer by Popovic to build a 43-32 lead at halftime.
USF scored the first two baskets of the second half to trim the lead to seven on a jumper from Justin Brown and a layup by Rideau. Popovic answered for Boston College on the ensuing possession with a three-pointer to push the lead back to 10. USF cut the lead to single digits minutes later on a free throw by Rashun Williams, but back-to-back layups put the Eagles ahead 50-37.
We sincerely hope you enjoy flipping through the handpicked photos by David Gold. The Bulls kickoff the regular season is in full gear so be sure to check back right here after for more USF Basketball photos all season long!
All photos are courtesy of our photographer David Gold, Stephanie Manuri and Matthew Manuri so please respectfully enjoy our hard work, but kindly tag us on Instagram (@soflobulls), Facebook (@SoFloBulls), and Twitter (@SoFloBulls).
All media requests must be made directly to Matthew Manuri (soflobulls@gmail.com).
Key Stats
58.8 – Boston College shot 58.8 percent in the second half while holding USF to 32.4 percent.
18 – USF totaled 18 steals to tie for the eighth-most in a single game in school history.
28 – USF forced Boston College into 28 turnovers to record the eighth-most in a single game in school history.
107 – David Collins scored 19 points and is only 107 points shy from becoming the 20th member of the USF 1,000 point club.
131 – USF connected on six 3-pointers and has made at least one trey in 131 consecutive games.
⫻ 2019 South Florida Men’s Basketball vs. Boston College Photo Album ⫻
