Field Level Media
Aug 21, 2012
DeJon Jarreau scored 17 points off the bench, Corey Davis Jr. chipped in 15 and the ninth-ranked Houston Cougars extended their home-court winning streak to 33 consecutive games with a 71-59, wire-to-wire victory over South Florida on Saturday.
Houston (26-1, 13-1 American Athletic Conference) extended its overall winning streak to 11 games by combining a balanced offensive attack with another suffocating defensive effort. All 10 players who participated scored for the Cougars, who jumped out to an 11-0 lead en route to saddling the cold-shooting Bulls (18-9, 7-7) with their third consecutive conference loss.
USF shot 31.3 percent from the floor and endured an eight-minute stretch in the second half without a field goal. The Bulls clung to life via a glut of free-throw attempts but finished just 21 of 32 from the charity stripe.
David Collins and LaQuincy Rideau, the Bulls' only double-digit scorers this season, shot a combined 2-for-23 and totaled 13 points.
Fabian White Jr. and Nate Hinton tallied nine points apiece for the Cougars, whose 7-0 spurt to open the second half extended their lead to 15 points and left the Bulls scrambling for the remainder of the contest. Davis' 3-pointer capped that Houston run.
The Bulls never found an offensive rhythm. It wasn't until the 15:40 mark of the first half that USF finally scored, and the Bulls started 1 of 13 from the floor before Antun Maricevic made their first 3-pointer with 11:17 remaining in the half.
The Bulls did manage an 8-0 run that cut the deficit to 24-23 with 5:18 left following threes from Justin Brown and Xavier Castaneda, but the Cougars responded with an 8-0 burst of their own to extend their lead back to 34-25.
USF recorded more turnovers (10) than field goals (seven) in the first half and trailed by eight at the break. Houston committed nine turnovers but shot 13-of-26 overall to offset those miscues.
--Field Level Media