HOUSTON, Texas, JAN. 28, 2018 – The USF men's basketball team was unable to complete a road trip sweep, falling to Houston, 63-40, on Sunday afternoon.

Payton Banks (Orange, Calif.) got off to a hot start for the Bulls (8-14, 1-8 AAC), scoring the team's first five points of the game. Overall, he finished with a team-high 10 points with three rebounds and two steals.

Stephan Jiggetts (Forestville, Md.) tied Banks as the team's leading scorer with 10 points. He added five rebounds, finishing tied with Isaiah Manderson (Bronx, N.Y.) as the team's second-leading rebounders. Jiggetts also had four of the team's five assists on the afternoon.

Nikola Scekic (Belgrade, Serbia) led USF on the glass with six rebounds, two of which came on the offensive end.

Overall, the Bulls shot 31.9 percent (15-for-47), compared to 42.6 percent (26-for-61) for Houston. The Cougars made five threes, compared to one for the Bulls. The Bulls were able to hold Houston to only 32.4 percent (11-for-34) from the field in the second half after the Cougars shot nearly 56 percent in the opening half.

Key Stats
2 – After holding him to only 11 points in the first matchup on Dec. 28, the Bulls held Rob Gray to a season-low two points this time around. Gray is the conference's leading scorer, averaging 19.7 points per game entering the afternoon.
11 – The Bulls scored 11 points off of 11 Houston turnovers, while the Cougars scored nine points off 10 USF turnovers.
 
Quotable
Head Coach Brian Gregory on Houston's run at the end of the first half:
"Unfortunately, in that run, the last four minutes of the first half, we had maybe a little bit of fatigue there. But it was our offense, with some costly turnovers. We took some challenged shots today, which is not how we need to play. Out of everything, that's the biggest thing I'm disappointed in."

Gregory on Terrence Samuel holding Rob Gray to two points:
"Give Terrence Samuel credit. I kind of challenged him heading into this week, in terms of guarding Frazier the other night and Gray today, to get back to being our defensive stopper. Someone we can count on. I think he lost a little bit of that identity over the last couple weeks, but he got it back this week. And that was good to see."
 
Notable

• Stephan Jiggetts had his 14^th double-digit scoring game of the season, extending his team lead. Payton Banks is close behind him as he had his 13^th game in double digits this afternoon.
• Nikola Scekic (Belgrade, Serbia) pulled down six rebounds, his most since he had six against Northern Arizona on Dec. 18 and one short of his career high of seven.
• Joey Coffaro (Arlington Heights, Ill.) appeared in the second game of his career, playing one minute to end the game.
• Houston got to the free throw line only five times in the game as the Bulls committed only 12 fouls, while the Cougars committed 19 fouls on the Bulls and put USF at the line 23 times.
• All 10 players who made the trip to New Orleans and Houston appeared in today's game.

Up Next
The Bulls return home to face Memphis on Wednesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNews.
 
About USF Men's Basketball
The USF men's basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory. On March 22, Gregory was introduced as the 10^th head coach in program history. He previously led programs at Georgia Tech (2011-16) and Dayton (2003-11). Gregory spent nearly a decade as an assistant coach under Michigan State's Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo and helped the Spartans win the 2000 NCAA National Championship. Gregory brings nearly 250 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship, to Tampa.

USF has retired three numbers in its 47-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.

For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.