The USF Bulls are one win away from the American Conference men's basketball championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament.
The Bulls pulled away from a game Charlotte team in the final eight minutes to post a 86-64 win in USF's opening game of the conference tournament. USF will face Wichita State at 3:30 p.m. Sunday for the championship. The Shockers beat Tulsa 81-68 in the other semifinal.
The game will be televised on ESPN2.
It's the first time in 36 years that USF will play in the conference tournament championship game. That was in 1990 under then-coach Bobby Paschal in the Sun Belt Conference. USF won that game and advanced to March Madness, where the Bulls led No. 2 seed Arizona by five points at the half before falling 79-67.
The final score is a bit deceptive as the 49ers, playing their third game in three days, scratched and battled the top-seeded team in the tournament. Bulls led by only three points with 12:13 to play before a 15-1 run put Charlotte on its heels as USF took command.
USF hit 15 of its last 21 shots to turn the game into a rout.
This was USF's 10th consecutive win and 13th in its last 14 games. The Bulls are 24-8 overall.
Bulls coach Bryan Hodgson became just the fourth coach in NCAA history to reach a conference championship game in his first three seasons as a head coach. Two of those berths were at Arkansas State.
Wes Enis and Joseph Pinion both scored 24 points to lead the Bulls. Pinion was 6-of-12 on 3-point attempts.
"It's awesome,. We set this as a goal from the beginning, not to just get here tomorrow, but to win the game tomorrow," associate head coach Tee Butters said on the Bulls Unlimited post-game show.
"And I'm proud of our we had a great crowd, a lot of support out here, which is crazy to see this many people coming out and support. 
Our guys feed off of it. all year long. We've got great crowds, great support, and we're just happy that we can take South Florida back to where they where they want to be."
A win on Sunday would clinch USF's fourth NCAA bid in program history and the first since 2012.