USF Bulls dominate FSU Seminoles for first-ever win in Orange Bowl Basketball Classic
In his first season leading the USF men’s basketball team, Bulls coach Amir Abdur-Rahim has made it a point to “re-establish South Florida basketball.” The Bulls haven’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2012 and haven’t had sustained success in the program since the early 1990s.
But Abdur-Rahim, who spent the past four seasons building up Kennesaw State and last season led them to their first NCAA tournament appearance at the Division 1 level, knows the potential is there at South Florida.
“How do you start that?” Abdur-Rahim asked rhetorically. “You start by playing the best of the best. You start by testing yourself again.”
Abdur-Rahim saw a glimpse of what that could be for USF on Saturday when his Bulls dismantled the Florida State Seminoles 88-72 in the first game of an Orange Bowl Basketball Classic doubleheader on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena.
It marks the first time in four appearances that USF (3-4) won a game in the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic.
Selton Miguel scored a game-high 20 points off the bench and Chris Youngblood added 18 points in a game the Bulls led from wire to wire.
FSU (4-4) fell behind 8-0 in opening three minutes and got within one about five minutes later before USF blew the game open. The Bulls led 38-24 at halftime and led by as many as 19 points early in the second half.
The Seminoles cut the deficit to as few as nine points, 50-41, with 13:15 left to play only for USF used a 14-3 run to quickly get the lead back to 20 points with 9:44 left to play and essentially put the game out of reach. The Bulls at one point led by as many as 26 points.
“We were just sticking to the script,” Youngblood said. “We were staging our presence throughout the game. When we were up 20 at one point, the average team would relax and take bad shots. The most important part was sticking with it.”
Youngblood, who was named MVP of the first game and who followed coach Abdur-Rahim to USF after spending three seasons at Kennesaw State, led the Bulls’ charge early. The senior guard scored 12 points in the first half and opened the second half with a three-pointer before going to the bench after picking up a third foul.
Miguel took over in the second half, scoring 13 of USF’s 50 points after halftime. Five Bulls players scored at least five points over the final 20 minutes.
Jose Placer, who left the game early in the second half with an injury, Kobe Knox, Kasean Pryor and Jayden Reed each added nine points for USF. Pryor led USF with 10 rebounds, while Knox also stuffed the statsheet with six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.
Jamir Watkins scored a team-high 15 points for FSU before fouling out with 4:19 left to play and Baba Miller had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
But Saturday’s loss was another frustrating one in an early-season slog for FSU. The Seminoles have now lost each of their past three games. They lost 68-66 to Georgia on Nov. 29 and blew a 12-point second-half lead in a 78-70 loss to North Carolina on Dec. 2.
“This team has been consistently inconsistent,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. “This year, we’ve struggled trying to find that mention and emotional level that it takes to compete with the talent that we have.”
This story was originally published December 9, 2023 at 4:03 PM.
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