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USF Men’s And Women’s Basketball Hit Road For Wednesday Conference Games

Both the men’s and women’s squads will face off against conference foes on the road Wednesday night.

By Connor Akeman
NCAA Basketball: Cincinnati at South Florida Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Men’s Basketball

After facing, and losing to, the American Athletic Conference’s top four teams to kickoff the conference slate, the USF men’s basketball team will look to grab that elusive first conference win Wednesday night at East Carolina (7-10, 1-5 AAC).

The Bulls (7-11, 0-5 AAC), dropped a nail-biter 67-65 to the Pirates two weeks ago at the Sun Dome. Guard Stephan Jiggets tied a season-high point total in the loss with 18 points, adding five rebounds and five assists. ECU has not a won game since then, dropping three straight.

Fresh off a loss to No. 14 Cincinnati on Saturday night, USF wing Payton Banks should start again at ECU after missing three games with an illness. Banks led all Bulls with 22 points in the loss to the Bearcats and was 4-of-5 from three-point range.

A victory over the Pirates on Wednesday night would give the Bulls their first road win outside the state of Florida since December 1, 2016 at Troy. USF’s last road conference win was actually at ECU in February of 2016.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN3.

Women’s Basketball

Elsewhere, the 23rd-ranked USF women’s basketball team will seek revenge at Memphis (7-10, 2-2 AAC) after the Tigers knocked off the Bulls 62-57 last season at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. USF has not beaten Memphis on the road since 2015.

The Bulls (14-4, 4-1 AAC), find themselves in sole possession of second place in the American Athletic Conference after demolishing C. at home on Sunday afternoon.

Senior forward Maria Jespersen is averaging 16.8 points and 7.8 rebounds in games against conference opponents this season. Junior guard Kitija Laksa continues to lead all Bulls, despite recent struggles from three-point distance, in scoring with 20.4 points per game. Laksa’s 98% free throw percentage is the best season long performance currently in the NCAA.

Senior point guard Laia Flores leads the conference in three different categories: assist-turnover ratio (3.53), assists (113) and assists per game (6.3). Flores ranks in the top 18 nationally in all three categories.

Tipoff from Memphis is scheduled for 8 p.m. on ESPN3.