South Florida scored eight points in the final 24.6 seconds to give SMU a loss that it won't soon forget.

USF beat SMU, 61-60, in the teams' American Athletic Conference regular-season finale Saturday night. The Bulls trailed 60-53 with 24.6 seconds left but used free throws by David Collins and Justin Brown and a last-second 3-pointer by LaQuincy Rideau -- one of two USF seniors playing on Senior Night -- to pull out an improbable victory.

"I've been in some really disappointing games over a long period," SMU coach Tim Jankovich said during his post-game radio interview, "but this one ranks right up there."

SMU dropped its third straight game and fell to 19-11 overall and 9-9 in AAC play. The Mustangs, who have also lost five of its last six games, now will wait to see if it is the sixth or seventh seed in the AAC Tournament, which tips off Thursday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.

USF finished the regular season with a 14-17 record. The Bulls were 7-11 in conference play and could finish as high as the eighth seed in the postseason tournament, depending on what happens with teams on Sunday.

SMU didn't score a point in the final 42 seconds of the game. To add, the Mustangs had three turnovers in that span -- a five-second call, a bad pass that hit a speaker and an intercepted pass at the end of the game.

"We didn't finish the game," Jankovich said. "And that was a miracle shot [by Rideau] for sure, but you can't be in that position. That was a hard, hard, hard one to swallow."

Jankovich added: "We pulled a loss out of a win, and that's why it's so painful to me."

The loss put a black eye on an outstanding performance by Ethan Chargois, who made his first start since the Jan. 15 game at Houston. Chargois finished with a game-high 20 points and nine rebounds.

Tyson Jolly and Isiaha Mike both had double-doubles for SMU. Jolly had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Mike had 12 points and 12 points.

Collins led USF with 15 points, while Antun Maricevic had 14, and Rideau had 12.

The AAC Tournament seedings will be decided after Sunday's games. SMU needs Connecticut to lose to Tulane to earn the sixth seed.