USF Men’s Basketball Loses Late Lead, Falls 68-67 to Wichita State in AAC Tournament Quarterfinals

The South Florida Bulls men’s basketball team nearly pulled off the biggest upset in AAC Tournament history on Friday afternoon until the clock struck midnight, and USF turned back into a pumpkin as they lost 68-67 to No. 1 seed Wichita State in the quarterfinals.

The Bulls led by 12 with 12:26 to go in the second half, but the top-seeded Shockers proved why they’re one of the top teams in the conference. WSU used a 10-2 run over the last six minutes of the game to complete the comeback and end the Bulls season a day later than most (read: me) expected.

Senior guard David Collins had a chance to win the game with eight seconds left, but his patented wild drive in the paint to hoist up a contested layup resulted in a charge call that all but sealed the fate of the Bulls’ strange 2020-2021 season.

Junior center Michael Durr had another outstanding game, as he collected his third career double-double—and second of the tournament—with 13 points, and 13 rebounds.

Justin Brown finished with 12 points, and hit four three’s. Jamir Chaplin had nine points in 15 minutes on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting effort. Despite these efforts, both Chaplin and Brown were ignored mostly on offense in the second half as the combined for three points on four shots. All of them coming from Brown.

It’s a disappointing end to a strange year, but it was good to see the Bulls fight to win a game in the conference tournament—a first since 2016. After the COVID break, and some of the final games down the stretch, it looked like they were going to roll over.

Now get some rest, find some shooters, learn how to make free throws, and come back stronger next season.

Go Bulls!