TAMPA ― During USF’s recent men’s game at UCF, the War on I-4 trophy, which soon may be eligible for a homestead exemption in Orlando, was displayed behind the Knights’ student section at Addition Financial Arena.

Stands to reason. These days, the Knights own the trophy, just like they own the Bulls. In recent years, the rivalry ― at least in the fall and winter ― has become lopsided and, in some cases, laughable.

“We’re tired of being the team that loses to ‘em every year,” Bulls’ 7-foot sophomore Michael Durr said.

He’s not the only one. Nearly two years have elapsed since USF defeated UCF in one of the three major sports (football, men’s and women’s basketball). Combined, UCF has won the past 15 meetings in those sports, including a nine-game win streak in men’s hoops.

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In the 2019-20 “War on I-4” standings (schools are awarded points for every team victory over the other), UCF leads 30-6. By any measure, it’s a bloodletting.

But the bleeding finally could subside ― at least temporarily ― Saturday at the Yuengling Center.

“We all know how big that would be ― it will be ― when we get it done,” Durr said. “It’s just something that we really want to get done and we’re looking forward to doing it.”

The men’s rematch comes two weeks after UCF’s 55-54 victory, ending on a controversial foul call on Bulls point guard Laquincy Rideau that led to the winning free throws. The defeat started a wretched long-range shooting funk by USF, which went 9-for-65 (13.8 percent) from 3-point distance over 3½ games.

But the Bulls (9-12, 2-6 American Athletic Conference) snapped out of it Wednesday night at Tulane, hitting six of 10 3-pointers in the second half en route to a 66-52 triumph. Similarly, leading scorer David Collins emerged from a mini-slump, hitting a pair of 3-pointers, finishing 4-for-7 from the floor and scoring a team-high 14 points.

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Now, about that other drought.

“It’s a game that means a lot to us and we need to go out there and play that way,” Bulls coach Brian Gregory said. “And I thought we did in Game One, but again, give them credit because they were able to make the plays down the stretch that they needed to make. Now it’s our opportunity to play at home.”

The Knights have their number

A look at USF’s current losing streak to UCF in the three major sports, with the average margin of defeat and last Bulls triumph in each sport:

Football: three games, 20.7 (Nov. 26, 2016)

Men’s basketball: nine games, 9.9 (March 4, 2015)

Women’s basketball: 3 games, 7.7 (March 5, 2018)