Sasser, Shead lead No. 1 Houston past South Florida 83-77

HOUSTON (AP) — Marcus Sasser scored acareer-high 31 points, Jamal Shead added 20 points and sixrebounds, and No. 1 Houston used a huge second half to beat SouthFlorida 83-77 on Wednesday night.

Sasser scored 25 points and Shead had 13 as the backcourt matescombined to score 38 of Houston’s 46 second-half points. Sasser, apreseason All-American, finished 7 of 17 from the field, including6 of 12 on 3-pointers. In the second half, Sasser and Sheadcombined to shoot 10 of 16 from the field and were 6 of 11 on3s.

“My teammates were telling me it’s time step up,” Sasser said.“They were trying to get me going, giving me confidence. Being asenior on the team, being a leader, I’ve kind of seen it all. ...When you have good teammates, they trust you with the ball and feellike you can change the game.”

Tramon Mark scored 13 points for Houston (17-1, 5-0 AmericanAthletic Conference), which won its eighth straight game.

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson appreciated his team’s grit duringa less-than-stellar performance.

“We’ve had a lot of nights where we’ve played poorly and wonover the years, but it’s a beautiful win,” Sampson said. “That gamewas a thing of beauty. ... Get the win and go home.”

Tyler Harris scored a career-high 31 points, Russel Tchewa added14 points and eight rebounds and Jamir Chaplin scored 14 points forthe Bulls (7-10, 0-4), who lost their fourth straight.

South Florida coach Brian Gregory said Houston needed anAll-American effort out of Sasser to beat the Bulls, and that’swhat he gave the Cougars.

“It challenged our guys a little bit in terms of thecompetitiveness and toughness that you have to play with,” Gregorysaid. “We’re a good team. We’ve had second-half leads in all fourgames in our league. ... It’s disappointing where we’re at.”

Harris was 9 of 13 from the field, including 6 of 10 on3-pointers.

Houston shot 42%, including 11 of 27 from the 3-point line. TheCougars forced South Florida into 18 turnovers and converted thoseinto 13 points.

South Florida shot 49%, including 10 of 21 on 3-pointers.

“Every time it looked like we were about to stretch it out from10 to 12 or 12 to 15 or something like that, they would bang a 3,”Sampson said. “They’ve been a poor 3-point shooting team and freethrow (shooting team). Not tonight, but that’s how upsets occur.It’s nights like tonight.”

Trailing 53-48 with 14 1/2 minutes remaining, Houston went on a20-4 run over the next 7 1/2 minutes to open up an 11-point lead ona 3-pointer by Shead. Sasser scored 13 points during the burst. TheBulls got no closer than six points the rest of the way.

Houston used a 10-0 run to open a 37-26 lead on a 3-pointer byEmanuel Sharp with three minutes left in the first half, but SouthFlorida answered with a 10-0 run to end the half to cut the lead toone on a layup by Chaplin.

BIG PICTURE

South Florida: The Bulls fell to 0-6 all-time against No.1-ranked teams. ... South Florida did not hit a field goal fornearly 8 1/2 minutes in the second half as Houston went on its run.... The Bulls outrebounded Houston 36-30, and South Florida had a26-22 edge in points in the paint.

Houston: Jarace Walker, who had scored more than 20 points intwo straight games, was out of the lineup with an illness. ... The36 first-half points by the Bulls were the most Houston has allowedbefore halftime this season, and the 77 points allowed was also aseason high. ... Houston won its 12th straight over the Bulls.

FOUL TROUBLE

The teams combined for 45 fouls. Houston shot 22 of 32 from thefree-throw line, led by Sasser, who was 11 of 14. The Bulls were 21of 27 from the line, with Tchewa going 8 of 9.

UP NEXT

South Florida: At East Carolina on Sunday.

Houston: At Tulane on Jan. 17.