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CBI Finals Game Two: USF Men’s Basketball’s Furious Comeback Comes Up Short in 100-96 Overtime Loss to DePaul

Nothing like a deciding game three, right?

By Nathan Bond
Robert Steeg / The Daily Stampede

USF men’s basketball dropped game two of the College Basketball Invitational 100-96 in overtime against DePaul in Chicago despite a career-high 35 points from junior point guard Laquincy Rideau.

Rideau scored 31 of his 35 points in the second half/OT to bring the Bulls all the way back from 11 down at halftime after DePaul’s Max Strus poured in 20 first-half points and made six of his eight three-point attempts.

Strus continued his hot shooting from the second half of game one into game two, making his first three shots of the night. The heat check didn’t continue in the second half as the Bulls clawed their way back into the game. Strus was 4-of-13 in the second half/OT and did not make a three.

Redshirt freshman Alexis Yetna hit his second three of the night to tie the game at 82-82 with 28 seconds left in the game. Yetna scored 26 points on 11-of-12 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds to secure his 15th double-double of the season and fourth of the tournament.

Sophomore guard David Collins—Monday’s hero—struggled to find his shot, but managed to score 13 points on 3-of-16 shooting and had an impressive block-to-dunk sequence to give the Bulls a very brief lead in the second half.

This was simultaneously USF’s best offensive performance of the season and worst defensive performance of the season. USF’s 96 points is a season-high, and their 100 points allowed is also a season-high. The Bulls couldn’t string together enough defensive stops to keep the slight lead they had late in the second half and the Blue Demons shot 50% from the floor, which is eight points higher than the Bulls’ season average of 42%.

Game three of the CBI Final will be on Friday at 7 p.m. in Chicago and will be televised on ESPNU.

Notables:

  • After making two of his first three three-point attempts, Justin Brown made just one of his final eight attempts to finish the night 5-of-13 from the field and 3-of-11 from distance.
  • Freshman Michael Durr recorded 11 rebounds and chipped in six points.