Three’s Doom USF Men’s Basketball In 84-81 Loss To The Citadel

A third consecutive 20-plus point performance from sophomore David Collins wasn’t enough on Saturday afternoon as the USF men’s basketball team fell 84-81 to The Citadel at the Yuengling Center.

“Give The Citadel and their coaching staff a lot of credit. They played extremely hard for 40 minutes and did a great job of staying extremely disciplined to their system and their style,” head coach Brian Gregory said. “We didn’t defend well enough, particularly in the second half, and we didn’t get enough defensive stops there at the end.”

The Bulls (4-2) pulled ahead 79-75 with 2:39 remaining after junior Laquicy Rideau scored six straight points, but The Citadel responded with a killer three-ball to retake the lead.

Rideau finished tied with Collins, registering 21 points, grabbing two rebounds and dishing six assists.

The Bulldogs made 16 of their 36 three-point attempts (44%) compared to USF’s 7-for-26 (27%) shooting from behind the arc.

Freshman forward Alexis Yetna, after scoring a combined three points over the first two games of the season, finished in double figures for a fourth straight game with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Collins threw up two three-point attempts in final seven seconds to try and force overtime but both fell short.

USF will wrap up the homestand with two games this week, hosting Stetson at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Colgate on Friday at 8:30 p.m.