HOUSTON, TEXAS, FEB. 28, 2021 (AP) – Quentin Grimes scored 22 points, all in the first half, to lead No. 12 Houston to a 98-52 win over South Florida on Sunday.

Grimes scored 16 straight points at one point as the Cougars (20-3, 13-3 American Athletic Conference) build a big lead with a huge first-half run. The junior guard, who scored 21 of his 33 points in the first half against Western Kentucky on Thursday, finished 8 of 16 from the field and hit 6 of 12 3-pointers.

DeJon Jarreau added 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Justin Gorham and Fabian White Jr. had 10 points apiece for Houston, which won its third straight and reached 20 wins for the sixth consecutive season. The Cougars shot 60% and made 15 of 33 3-pointers.

Houston forced the Bulls (8-10, 4-8) into 15 turnovers and converted those into 22 points.

Xavier Castaneda (Chicago, Ill.) scored 11 points in his first start of the season and Caleb Murphy (Youngstown, Ohio) added 10 for USF.

The Cougars jumped out to a 54-16 lead with four minutes left in the first half by outscoring USF 47-10, including a 26-0 run. Houston led 56-21 at halftime behind 61% shooting, making 10 of 20 3-pointers.

Notable
• Xavier Castaneda made his first start of the season.           
• USF became just the fourth team this season to have more offensive rebounds than Houston.   
• Justin Brown made four two-pointers and moved into fourth place all-time at USF with 185.         

Key Stats
22 – Houston scored 22 points off USF turnovers and limited the Bulls to just two.         
­­­27 – Houston finished with 27 assists on 39 field goals.                
60 – Houston shot 60 percent from the field.    
 
Up Next
USF plays its finals home game of the season Tuesday at 9 p.m. when the Bulls welcome Memphis to the Yuengling Center.   
 
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About USF Men's Basketball
The USF men's basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory. On March 22, 2017, 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 owns over 300 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship. In his second season at the helm of the Bulls, Gregory led the team to the best win turnaround in the NCAA, the most single-season wins in school history and the 2019 College Basketball Invitational championship. 

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, appeared in the NIT eight times and won the 2019 College Basketball Invitational.

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