Jahmal McMurray led three Bulls in double figures with 17 points, but USF’s two-game road winning streak was snapped with an 88-57 loss at Cincinnati on Thursday night.
McMurray extended his double-digit scoring streak to 16 games against one of the top defenses in The American. The conference’s top freshman scorer at 15.0 points per game has averaged 21 points in his past four outings.
Jaleel Cousins continued his hot stretch with 10 points and 10 rebounds in his seventh double-double of the season. The senior center from Mobile, Ala., has averaged 12.3 points and 9.3 rebounds in the past three games.
Sophomore Bo Zeigler (Detroit, Mich.) posted his second double-digit scoring game of the season after posting eight of his 10 total points in the second half. Senior Angel Nunez fell just short of his sixth consecutive game in double figures with eight points.
USF (5-19, 2-9) was seeking its first three-game road winning streak since 1994 and was right in it early on. Nehemias Morillo’s 3-pointer gave the Bulls an 18-12 lead about nine minutes into the action and a pair of McMurray free throws tied things up at 29-29.
Cincinnati (17-6, 7-3) closed the first half on a 7-0 run in the final minute and continued to heat up after the break. The Bearcats shot nearly 60 percent from the field in the second half (16-for-27) and wound up scoring 29 points off 21 USF turnovers. Troy Caupain led six Bearcats in double figures with 18 points and knocked down four of Cincinnati’s 10 3-pointers.
“We needed to keep fighting and we just couldn’t get anything really going,” said head coach Orlando Antigua of the second half. “Some of the decisions we made led to them turning some of the turnovers into quick transition points.”
The Bulls look to bounce back at home on Sunday at 2 p.m. against No. 12 SMU.