TAMPA (January 5, 2022) – The University of South Florida Bulls (5-8, 0-1 AAC) got off to a hot start in their conference opener on Wednesday night, and led for the first 12 minutes of play against No. 12 Houston (13-2, 2-0 AAC), before the Cougars' offense pulled away in the second half for an 83-66 win at the Yuengling Center.

Jamir Chaplin (Norcross, Ga.) and Javon Greene (McDonough, Ga.) paced the Bulls with 16 points apiece. Chaplin matched his career high in scoring while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds and also dishing out a career-best five assists.

Both teams shot 44 percent from the field in the opening half as South Florida trailed, 40-37, at the break. Houston went on to shoot 62.5 percent in the second half to secure the victory.

"I really liked our competitiveness in the first half and it lent itself to us getting off to a great start," said head coach Brian Gregory. "We were able to match their toughness in that first half, but we weren't as physical as we needed to be in the second half, especially around the rim."

Houston ended the game with a 42-22 advantage in points in the paint. Josh Carlton did a bulk of that damage for the Cougars as he led scorers with 30 points.

The Bulls opened the contest with a bang by knocking down three straight triples to claim a 9-2 edge. Greene hit two in a row from downtown and Jake Boggs (Charlotte, N.C.) recorded the other. USF led by as many as nine points in the opening minutes and hung with the Cougars for the entire first half before Houston overtook the lead for good at the 2:57 mark.

South Florida went 5-9 from three-point range over the first 20 minutes of play before finishing the game 7-20 in that category.

Chaplin registered double digits in the scoring column for the fifth time this season and is averaging 15 points over his last two games.

"He played with great energy and movement tonight," Gregory added about Chaplin. "It started on the defensive end for him and carried over to the offense, which he's been doing more of the last couple games to really help us."

Notable

• Jalyn McCreary (Marietta, Ga.) scored a season-high 12 points and recorded five rebounds.
• USF matched Houston in offensive rebounds with 12, but was out-rebounded in total, 40-31.
• The Bulls' seven three-pointers on Wednesday matched a season high.

Up Next

South Florida opens a two-game road trip on Saturday at Tulane. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. in New Orleans.

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About USF Men's Basketball

The USF men's basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory, who enters his fifth season in 2021-22. Gregory was introduced as the 10th head coach in program history in March of 2017 after previously leading 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 with Dayton. 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 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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