3 keys for USF men's basketball in the Bulls' home opener vs Arkansas Pine Bluff

On paper, tonight’s men’s basketball game between USF and Arkansas Pine Bluff is a chance for the Bulls to get well after an 0-2 start.

Draft Kings established USF as a 23.5-point favorite, and with good reason. The Golden Lions are 1-2, sandwiching a 99-57 win over Champion Christian College around blowout losses to Cincinnati (109-54) and Tulsa (103-80).

Tipoff is 7 p.m. at the Yuengling Center and it’s USF’s first home game. There will be a little pomp and ceremony before the game when the Bulls  unveil the 2023-24 American Athletic Conference regular season championship banner. The game will be carried on ESPN+ and Bulls Unlimited.

Here are three things the Bulls need to do to make the evening complete.

Make the second half as good as the first: In losses to Florida in Jacksonville and at Charleston Southern, USF played a strong first half but it went south in the second 20 minutes.

The Bulls led the Gators by one point at the half and trailed CS by only one at the break.

Alas, the Gators took over inside and outscored USF 59-43 in the second half and won going away. It was the same story in Charleston as the home team won the final 20 minutes 53-39.

For those keeping score at home, that’s 112 second-half points combined by the opponents.

It’s telling that USF was outscored 86-56 in the paint in those two games.

Make it a team effort: Interestingly, USF has been sharing the wealth so far. 39-10  The Bulls’ bench has been a plus, outscoring the Gators and Charleston by a combined 66-26.

If that trend continues, it should bode well for USF when AAC play begins. Depth is always valuable and it looks like the Bulls have their share. That’s especially useful with the go-go style they like to play.

Kobe Knox played 32 minutes against the Gators, but he’s the only Bull to top 30 minutes in a game so far.

Protect the basketball: Turnovers have been a big problem. USF combined for 33 turnovers in the first two games and that’s asking for trouble, if not outright demanding it.

Both Florida and Charleston outscored the Bulls 24-8 in points off turnovers. The Gators got 22 points off miscues in the second half.

Part of that could be a byproduct of the trauma the Bulls have endured since the death of head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim shortly before the season began. No team in the country has had to go through that.

Also, USF had a lot of roster turnover through the transfer portal after last season. As this campaign goes along, the players should become more settled.