USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, JAN. 17, 2015 – Banged-up USF led the way through much of the first half but couldn't cool off first-place Tulsa after the break in a 75-58 loss Saturday afternoon at the Sun Dome.

Minus Bo Zeigler (knee) and with leading scorer Corey Allen Jr. hampered with a calf injury, USF led by as many as seven in the opening period, but 11 turnovers opened the door for the Tulsa attack. The Golden Hurricane (12-5, 5-0) took a five-point lead into the break and James Woodard scored 18 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to lead Tulsa to its seventh consecutive victory. 

Tulsa returned nine letterwinners, including four starters, from last season's NCAA tournament team.

"When you're playing a team as good as Tulsa is, with the kind of experience they have, you can't give them any kind of glimpse of hope to get going," head coach Orlando Antigua said. "In the second part of the first half we got a little careless. Some of that had to do with their defense, some of that had to do with us not being aggressive enough attacking that three-quarter trap they run."

Despite the loss, Antigua found more positives to take away from USF's performance, especially the boost the Bulls got from the bench. Junior guard Nehemias Morillo tied his career high with 15 points and junior center Jaleel Cousins scored all of his career-high-tying nine points after the break. USF dominated in bench points by a 27-10 margin.

Freshman center Ruben Guerrero continued to show progression in the starting lineup with 11 points after going 5-for-10 from the field. USF (7-11, 1-4) played efficiently in the second half with just four turnovers and shot 42 percent from the field overall in the first meeting between the programs.

"We beat a team I think is going to have a chance to be really, really good," Tulsa head coach Frank Haith said.

The Bulls led for nearly 12 minutes in the first half and took a 15-8 lead on a layup by Morillo less than 8 minutes into the action. The lead changed hands for good on a dunk by Marquel Curtis with 5:18 to go before halftime and Tulsa headed into the break with a 32-27 advantage.

Tulsa, The American's lone unbeaten team in league play, widened the margin by shooting 60 percent in the second half. Woodard, ranked second in the league in 3-pointers made, knocked down four of his five 3-pointers after the break.

"That makes us super tough when James is shooting the ball like that," Haith said.

USF shot 33 percent in the second half (10-for-30) but got solid production from Cousins, who showed the intensity Antigua has been looking for while going 2-for-4 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free throw line.

"We need big minutes from him. We need big minutes from all of our bigs and I thought Jaleel put an imprint on the game when he was just being physical," Antigua said. "He was being alert, he was being active and he got to the free throw line and he made them."

The Bulls are on the road for two games next week before heading back to the Sun Dome to host SMU on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. (TV: ESPNU; purchase tickets HERE). USF's road trip begins with a test at Temple on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 6:30 p.m. and ends with a rematch against UConn on Sunday, Jan. 25 in Storrs, Conn.