TAMPA, Fla. – Elijah McCadden tallied 13 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Georgia Southern held South Florida to 26 percent shooting for the game to earn a 53-41 men's basketball win over the Bulls Saturday afternoon in the Yuengling Center.
Eagles of the Game
Andrei Savrasov made 4 of 6 from the floor and finished with 10 points and six rebounds, and
Cam Bryant hit three triples and finished 4 of 7 from the floor to score 11. McCadden finished 4 of 7 from the field.
Key Moments
The Eagles (2-0) held South Florida without a field goal for a span of 12:57 in the second half while pushing an eight-point lead to a decisive 53-36 cushion on a Bryant transition dunk with 3:16 to play. The Bulls (1-1) were 0 for 15 from the floor with two turnovers during the stretch.
Georgia Southern jumped out to an 11-3 lead as
Kamari Brown and Bryant made 3-pointers, and
Tre Cobbs drove to the hoop for a bucket. Bryant hit a 3-pointer, and Savrasov converted a conventional 3-point play as GS scored six in a row late in the half to take a 33-25 lead into the locker room.
Stats and Notes
The Eagles shot 57 percent in the first half, and held South Florida to 15 of 57 from the field for the game, including 21 percent in the second half. It was the least points GS has allowed a Division I opponent since holding Georgia State to 38 points in the 2015 Sun Belt Championship game.
Quotables from Head Coach Brian Burg
"You look back all the way to the summer, and we put a lot of great weeks together back-to-back-to-back, and then you go into our preseason, and guys have been focused and guys have been playing collectively together. We knew South Florida was going to be an extremely physical, big, athletic team, and guys really bought into the game plan. We wanted to limit their transition opportunities, and we wanted to limit our turnovers to 10 or less and not have live ball turnovers. I know the turnovers were 18, but there were only four live turnovers in the second half, which allowed us to set our halfcourt defense. So, give credit to our players; they really bought into the game plan."
Up Next
The Eagles play host to Bob Jones University Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.
