HOUSTON, JAN. 23, 2016 – Freshman guard Jahmal McMurray scored a career-high 30 points to lead the USF men's basketball team in a 71-62 win at Houston on Saturday.

McMurray, who scored 24 of his points in the second half, was 9-of-19 from the field including 3-of-3 from 3-point range while playing all 40 minutes. The Topeka, Kan. native helped the Bulls (4-17, 1-7 American Athletic Conference) go 26-of-32 (81.3 percent) from the free throw line by making 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. His 30 points was the most by a USF freshman since Dominique Jones' 31 against Seton Hall on Feb. 26, 2008.

“His teammates understood that they needed to get him the ball because he was getting to the basket and getting to the free throw line,” said head coach Orlando Antigua. “He was making plays for guys early on and then he had the hot hand. They got him the ball in the right places.”

The Bulls snapped a nine-game losing skid with their first road win of the season. It was Houston's (13-6, 3-4) second home loss of the season (10-2).

“I'm so happy for these kids, for the resilience that they continue to show,” said Antigua. “Our jobs as coaches are to keep working. The results will happen if we compete for 40 minutes. I thought we grew lot today as a team. We made a bunch of mistakes, but we didn't let one mistake lead to another. The guys were encouraging one another. They were pushing each other.”

It was a courageous effort for the Bulls as they suited up only nine players, six of whom are on scholarship.

“We make no excuses for who's here and who's not here,” said Antigua. “We have a responsibility to compete, play and fight for one another. All we need is five guys on the court.”

All seven players that played for USF scored and had at least two rebounds. Senior Angel Nunez had 12 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Ruben Guerrero had seven points and a team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Jake Bodway played a career-high 19 minutes and grabbed a personal-best six rebounds, including a team-high four offensive boards. USF dominated the rebounding total, 43-27.

USF led for over 30 minutes of the contest. A lead that was sustained as soon as McMurray hit a 3-pointer to give USF a 14-11 lead with 9:36 remaining in the first half. The Bulls held the Cougars to 2-of-13 shooting from the field late in the first half to expand their lead to 32-19 with under two minutes remaining. USF led 32-22 at halftime.

The Bulls led by as many as 16 points, 44-28, with 14:13 remaining in the game. Houston went on a 16-6 run to close the margin to six points, 50-44, with just over nine minutes to play. The gap closed to four points, 56-52, at the 5:28 mark, but then McMurray out-scored the Cougars 12-10 the rest of the way to seal the Bulls' first conference win of the season.

USF's defense held Houston to 17.4 percent (4-of-23) from 3-point range while shooting 3-of-6. The Bulls held the conference's leading scorer, Rob Gray Jr. (17.6), without a field goal and just one point. UH was led by Danrad Knowles and Wes Vabeck, who each finished with 15 points.

USF continues a stretch of five of its next seven games on the road when it plays at Tulane Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be shown on ESPN3.

The USF men's basketball team is led by Orlando Antigua, who is in his second season as the head coach after spending the previous six season as an assistant to Naismith Hall of Fame coach John Calipari. USF has played the toughest schedule in the American Athletic Conference and one of the toughest schedules in the NCAA. USF has retired three numbers in its 45-year history: Chucky Atkins (12), Charlie Bradley (30) and Radenko Dobras (31). The Bulls have earned three NCAA tournament bids and appeared in the NIT eight times. In the 2011-12 season, USF was one win away from an appearance in the Sweet 16.