USF's season ends with a clank not a whimper

15%.

That’s what USF’s 3-point shooting percentage was in its first-round loss to Louisville in the Round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament.

To put it in perspective, a brand-new restaurant has a better chance of closing in its first year than the USF Bulls had of making a shot from behind the 3-point line against the Cardinals.

The Bulls peppered the rim with miss after miss Thursday afternoon while their opponent caught fire. Louisville shot 13 for 25 from behind the arc. The Cardinals outscored USF from 3-point range by 24 points while taking eight fewer shots.

Louisville senior guard Isaac McNeely outshot the Bulls by himself, going 7 for 10 from 3-point range.

“I know the critics will say, you know, we took too many 3s,” Hodgson said after the game. “But we’ve had our identity offensively all year. It’s been very successful — the most efficient offense in the history of the program.”

USF shot 43.8% of its field goal attempts from behind the 3-point line this season. Thursday was the Bulls’ second-lowest 3-point shooting percentage in a game this season.

Typically, a shooting performance that poor would result in USF being run out of the gym, and it looked like that early in the second half when Louisville opened up a 23-point lead. However, the Bulls went down swinging and nearly engineered an all-time comeback.

The Bulls outscored Louisville by 17 in the game’s final 10 minutes. Had USF completed the comeback, it would have been the second-biggest comeback win in NCAA Tournament history.

“We don’t have quit in us,” USF senior forward Izaiyah Nelson said after the game. He scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the final game of his college career.

For a moment, it seemed that USF’s ferocious comeback was destined to culminate in an all-timer. That moment came when senior guard Joseph Pinion made a layup to cut the Cardinals’ lead to six points with 1:58 remaining.

“I definitely thought that we were going to win the ballgame,” Pinion said when asked what he was thinking during USF’s surge. He had a game-high 27 points, with 22 coming in the second half.

However, after Pinion’s basket, the Bulls’ offensive struggles again reared their ugly head, and they didn’t score again until 25 seconds remained.

Still, USF’s comeback displayed the team’s resolve that Bulls fans have seen all season.

USF forced 22 turnovers. The Bulls relentlessly pressured Louisville ballhandlers from baseline to baseline until the final buzzer. They had seven steals in the second half.

The Bulls had 25 more field goal attempts than Louisville. The Cardinals’ largest deficit in field goal attempts before this game was 14. It was also USF’s biggest field goal advantage this season.

Hodgson boasted about his team’s character even after the loss.

“Most importantly, you know, throw the stats aside. I’m extremely proud of this group of young men. I’ve been doing this for 18 years. This is the best group of young men I’ve ever been around. Selfless, motivated, disciplined. They love one another. They celebrate each other’s success, and that’s extremely special. They’ve given me more than I could ever give them.”

This team will never play together again. Six seniors graduate, others will likely hit the transfer portal, and even Hodgson’s future with the team is unclear.

However, the second half displayed on the national stage what was already in place. The Bulls’ basketball program has a strong foundation to build on. They have won two American Conference regular-season titles with two different coaches in the past three seasons, and they look poised to continue that success.

This year’s team set the standard for USF’s basketball program moving forward. They broke through and won the conference tournament for the first time since 1990. They went dancing for the first time since 2012.

It’s hard to see that standard changing now, even if the players on the floor and coaches on the sideline do.