Selton Miguel scored 20 points off the bench and Chris Youngblood added 18 to lead South Florida to an 88-72 victory over Florida State in the AutoNation Orange Bowl Basketball Classic on Saturday afternoon in Sunrise, Fla.
The Bulls (3-4) snapped a three-game losing streak and a two-game skid in the all-time series with the Seminoles (4-4), who dropped their third in a row.
South Florida led wire-to-wire and did not let Florida State pull any closer than nine points in the second half.
South Florida was sharp from deep as it shot 12 for 23 (52.2 percent) from 3-point range. Three Bulls, including Miguel and Youngblood, who each went 3 for 5 from long range, made three 3-pointers. Jose Placer also hit three 3-pointers for his nine points.
Already without Cam Corhen likely until after the holiday break, the Seminoles struggled on the offensive end in the wake of the loss of Cam’Ron Fletcher to a season-ending knee injury last week. Jamir Watkins led Florida State with 15 points but fouled out with 4:19 left in the second half.
FSU shot 39 percent from the field, and the Bulls took advantage of 16 turnovers leading to 19 points.
The issue stemmed from South Florida’s aggressiveness on the defensive end as it produced 10 steals, including four by Jayden Reid.
South Florida’s lead was cut to 50-41 with 13:15 to go after an 11-2 run by the Seminoles. But the Bulls answered quickly with an 11-1 surge sparked by Brandon Stroud and Reid.
Baba Miller had 11 points for Florida State but struggled from the foul line, missing nine of 13 free throws.
South Florida entered the game as one of the nation’s top teams in bench scoring. The Bulls showed off their depth with six players scoring nine or more points and two more players scoring six points.
–Field Level Media