It was a tight game throughout, but South Florida held off Tulsa down the stretch to beat the Golden Hurricane, 80-74, Sunday afternoon in Tampa. It was Tulsa’s second loss this season to the Bulls.

Tulsa drops to 20-4 overall, 8-3 in the American, and South Florida is now 16-8, 8-3 American.

Despite the loss, Ade Popoola turned in a great shooting performance for Tulsa, scoring 24 points, all coming from eight three-pointers. That tied him for the second most three-pointers in a game in program history.

Tulsa was able to stay close to the Bulls for most of the first half. However, the Golden Hurricane struggled defensively, committing 12 fouls and allowing South Florida to make frequent trips to the free-throw line.

South Florida led 39-35 at halftime.

The Bulls quickly opened a 12-point lead to start the second half, 47-35, but Tulsa battled back as Popoola made one of his eight three-pointers to tie the game at 49-49 with 15:00 remaining in the game. Tulsa made 10 three-pointers in the second half to keep the game close.

Besides Popoola, others scoring in double-digits for Tulsa were David Green with 16 points and Miles Barnstable with 13 points and six rebounds.

South Florida was led by Izaiyah Nelson with 25 points, Wes Enis scored 20, CJ Brown had 14, and Joseph Pinion added 11.

The Golden Hurricane was scheduled to host UAB on Wednesday, and will play at Wichita State on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN+.