The South Florida Bulls men’s basketball became American Athletic Conference champions for the first time in program history, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament and their first appearance in the tournament since 2012.
Following the conclusion of conference championship games, USF received an 11 seed and will face the No. 6 seed Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball in the opening round.
USF defeated Wichita State Shockers men’s basketball 70–55 in the championship game, using a strong defensive performance before pulling away with a scoring run in the second half.
Senior guard Wes Enis led the Bulls with 19 points on 7-of-21 shooting, while adding four rebounds and three steals.
“I take pride in controlling the controllables. I can control my defense. I can’t control if the ball is going in, but I can control my effort on the defensive side of the ball,” Enis said.
Senior forward Izayiah Nelson filled the stat sheet with 16 points, six rebounds, three blocks and three steals.
Enis and Nelson were selected to the All-Conference team, and Enis was named the American Men’s Basketball Championship Most Outstanding Player.
“This group of guys is amazing, it’s so easy to do whatever you gotta do cause there’s so much love in this room, it’s amazing,” Enis said.
This is the first time USF has won a conference tournament since 1990, when the Bulls were in the Sunbelt Conference.
First-year head coach Bryan Hodgson has dedicated this season to the late Amir Abdur-Rahim, who set the precedent at USF just two years ago.
“It means the world to me, and I just want to continue to credit coach Amir and the foundation that he laid,” Hodgson said.
Currently on an 11-game winning streak, sitting at 25-8, the Bulls will travel to Buffalo, New York, to face Louisville in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on March 19.
