Men’s basketball still in search of first AAC win

Stephan Jiggetts scored a team-high 21 points against UCF on Saturday. ORACLE PHOTO/MIKI SHINE

USF men’s basketball could potentially go without a win in conference play for the first time in program history. 

The Bulls still have 11 conference games to play this season. However, they’re already last in the conference with an 0-7 record and have lost to ECU (8-11, 2-6), the AAC’s next-worst team, twice in 2018. They won’t face the Pirates again.

Their best chance at picking up an AAC win could come against Temple (10-9, 2-5), the third-worst team in the AAC, on Feb. 10, or in their two games against Tulane (12-7, 3-4), which is the conference’s fourth-worst team.

The Bull (7-13, 0-7) first of two meetings against Tulane will be Thursday night at 9 p.m. in New Orleans.

“We had good things that we can build off of, we just have to cut out the bad things you see at the end of the game,” Point Guard Stephan Jiggetts said after USF’s loss to UCF on Saturday. “When we put a full game together, you’ll definitely start seeing some W’s.”

Last season, Tulane struggled, but defeated USF twice for two of its three conference wins of the season. In 2017-18, however, the Green Wave has improved, having already doubled its win total from 2016-17 in its second season under coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. 

“You saw some of the things we’re going to build on tonight,” USF coach Brian Gregory said Saturday. “We have a plan, it’s a good plan, it’s a plan that’s going to lead to success. Our guys believe in it, our incoming guys believe in it, our guys knew what they we’re getting into this year.”

USF women’s soccer coach gets extension

Just months after USF women’s soccer and coach Denise Schilte-Brown won the AAC for the first time in program history, USF announced that a three-year contract extension has been given to Schilte-Brown on Wednesday.

Schilte-Brown, 44, has compiled an 114-70-35 record in 11 seasons at the helm in Tampa and has led USF to three NCAA tournaments in the past four seasons. The extension means Schilte-Brown will be under contract through 2022.

“Denise has done a tremendous job building USF women’s soccer into a nationally ranked and highly competitive program that continues to attract high-level student-athletes that excel both on the field and in the classroom,” Bulls athletic director Mark Harlan said. “We look forward to many more exciting seasons ahead.”

USF baseball’s McClanahan named as a third team Preseason All-American

USF baseball sophomore starting pitcher Shane McClanahan was selected as a third team Preseason All-American by D1Baseball on Tuesday.

McClanahan was a unanimous all-conference choice in December and was named a freshman All-American by Perfect Game, Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association in 2017.

Last season, McClanahan was predominantly the Bulls’ Saturday night starter and led the AAC with 12.32 strikeouts per nine innings in 2017, which was good for eighth in the country. McClanahan also finished ninth nationally allowing 5.68 hits per nine innings a season ago.