 deployed double teams along the sidelines and near midcourt to repeatedly force South Florida mistakes down the stretch.''We had a plan to trap the ball screen,'' said guard Anthony Polite, chosen the game's most valuable player. ''That led to a few steals that gave us energy, and we were able to get some easy baskets in transition. That gave us momentum.'' South Florida (6-6) lost to a ranked team for the 27th consecutive time since 2012.''The guys are ticked off because we lost that game, which is good for me to able to coach them, because they are not going to accept the fact that we just competed and hung in there,'' coach Brian Gregory said. ''They want to take another step.'' With 13 steals and 21 points off turnovers, the Seminoles won despite a poor shooting effort, including 7 for 27 from 3-point range. They also were outrebounded by 14 by the Bulls.''They outplayed us for the majority of the game,'' Hamilton said. ''They brought a lot more than we had asked for.'' RaiQuan Gray had 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals for Florida State. Polite, Trent Forrest and M. J. Walker also scored 11 points apiece.A flurry of nine points in 39 seconds by the Bulls - including a pair of 3s and two free technical foul free throws - helped them lead 57-47 with 6:32 to go. But they didn't score another field goal until garbage time with 3 seconds left, and committed turnovers on four consecutive possessions as the Seminoles pulled ahead.Devin Vassell's jumper with two minutes left put Florida State in front to stay.Michael Durr had 15 points and seven rebounds for the Bulls, but they shot just 3 for 15 from 3-point range. Four of their turnovers came on shot-clock violations.EARLY DEFICITThe Seminoles trailed for more than 33 minutes, and made only one of their first 13 shots as South Florida raced to a 17-4 advantage. Florida State missed its first 10 3-point tries.Xavier Castaneda's driving layup with 3 seconds left in the first half gave the Bulls a 31-28 halftime lead.Trent Forrest's layup with eight minutes to go gave the Seminoles their first lead, 47-46.OVERHEARDThe technical foul was called on the Florida State bench, but Hamilton pleaded innocent.''I really don't know what happened on the technical,'' he said. ''The ref was on the other side of the court. He has really good ears, I guess. I didn't hear it, and I was right there.'' BIG PICTUREWinning with defense is nothing new for the Seminoles. Four victories have come when they score 66 points or fewer.South Florida has a .500 record for the fifth time this season.UP NEXTFlorida State plays host to North Alabama on Dec. 28 before returning to Atlantic Coast Conference play.South Florida plays host to Florida Atlantic on Dec. 29.---More college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/-Top25)
Dec 19, 2019Traditionally a tall and deep team, the Florida State Seminoles are not ducking from that identity this season.On Saturday, the 19th-ranked Seminoles (9-2) will challenge the South Florida Bulls (6-5) as part of the annual Orange Bowl Classic doubleheader at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla. The other game pits Florida against Utah State.The Seminoles are known to have multiple 7-footers on their roster every year, and this season, that role belongs to both starter Dominik Olejniczak and backup Balsa Koprivica.In a 98-81 win over North Florida on Tuesday, Koprivica - a 7-1, 240-pound freshman - scored a career-high 15 points in just 15 minutes."I'm seeing something develop there," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "He's responding to coaching. We've been challenging him, and he's eager to learn." Olejniczak, a 7-0, 260-pound senior who transferred in from Mississippi, scored 11 points in 16 minutes, giving the Seminoles remarkably efficient play in the middle. In that game, the two big men shot a combined 11-for-15 from the floor, scoring 26 points with six rebounds in 31 minutes.But Florida State's size is not just limited to its centers. No one on the Seminoles roster is shorter than 6-4, and this is a deep team. They used 12 players in the easy victory against North Florida.Florida State is accustomed to playing in the Orange Bowl Classic, going 8-2 in the event, including a 75-62 win over South Florida in 2014.The Seminoles, who will be playing in the event for the eighth consecutive season, beat Saint Louis 81-59 last year.South Florida, meanwhile, will make the trip to Sunrise coming off a 76-74 overtime loss to Utah State on Wednesday in Houston.The Bulls led by four points toward the end of regulation, but they gave up two layups in the final 66 seconds as the Aggies forced overtime. The Bulls had two more leads in the extra session before losing on a put-back by Justin Bean with one second remaining.The Bulls are led by 6-3 junior guard David Collins, who is averaging 15.3 points. On Sunday against Drexel, Collins became the 20th Bulls player to surpass 1,000 career points."It was nice to get that milestone," said Collins, who made third-team All-American Athletic Conference last season. "But the important thing is that we got the win." Last season, the Bulls posted a 24-14 record, winning the third-tier CBI championship. The goal this year is to earn their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2012, and a victory over the Seminoles would help.The Bulls will have to stop a Seminoles team that is extremely balanced. Devin Vassell, a 6-6 sophomore wing, leads Florida State in scoring (12.3 points), just ahead of 6-4 senior point guard Trent Forrest (12.0), 6-5 junior guard M. J. Walker (10.5) and 6-8 standout freshman forward Patrick Williams (9.3).South Florida has a 7-footer of its own in sophomore starter Michael Durr (4.5 points per game).Other Bulls players to watch include 6-1 senior guard Laquincy Rideau (13.4 points), 6-6 junior wing Justin Brown (8.6 points) and 6-3 sophomore guard Ezacuras Dawson (6.2 points).Brown is regarded as USF's best shooter. Rideau is the reigning AAC Defensive Player of the Year. And Dawson will be making a homecoming since he played his high school ball at South Miami. He arrived at USF this season after transferring from Oklahoma State.--Field Level Media
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