USF Men's Basketball Drops 80-72 Decision to No. 5 Cardinal Stritch

JOLIET, Ill. – Derek Semenas scored 21 points and Tony Smit tallied 20 as fifth-ranked Cardinal Stritch University led most of the game and held on for an 80-72 win over University of St. Francis in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball play Saturday night at the Sullivan Center. | Box Score

USF (12-8 overall, 8-6 CCAC) fell behind 10-2 early before rallying to take a 25-24 lead on a jumper by sophomore Chris Miller (Rockford, Ill./ Boylan Catholic) at the 3:47 mark of the first half. The Wolves quickly recaptured the advantage and by halftime built a 35-31 edge.

Cardinal Stritch (19-2, 15-0) scored the first 10 points of the second stanza to increase its lead to 45-31. A Mike Simpson basket with 14:48 remaining in the game gave the Wolves their largest lead of the night, 51-35.

USF used an 18-4 run to close the gap to 55-53 at the 8:27 mark. Miller scored nine of his game-high 25 points during that stretch. He turned in his fourth straight game with 20 or more points and his 11th on the year.

The Wolves maintained a single-digit lead the rest of the night. Simpson went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the game's final 22 seconds to seal the win. He finished the game with 10 points.

Senior Billy Hubly (Elk Grove, Ill./ Elk Grove) scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to notch his first career double-double.

USF returns to action Thursday night at Trinity International University.