Junior guard Quentin Grimes was clicking on all levels Wednesday night, as he scored a season-high 29 points to power Houston to an 82-65 victory over USF.
UH was blazing hot from the field to start the game, hitting 10 of its first 12 shots to jump ahead early. USF also shot the ball well early on as the teams combined for 46 points and both the Cougars and Bulls shot above 60 percent from the field through the first 10 minutes of play.
A 3:30 cold streak in which the Cougars did not make a field goal allowed the Bulls to erase the narrow deficit and tie the game up at 25 and then 27 with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half.
Tied at 27, UH began to heat up again and outscored USF 16-8 to close out the half to take an eight point lead into the locker room.
Senior DeJon Jarreau was a big reason while UH led going into the half. The 6-foot-5-inch guard did a little bit of everything for the Cougars in the first half, scoring a team-high 13 points to go along with five assists and three rebounds.
The Cougars started the second half the same way they began the first: hitting shot after shot.
In the first four minutes of the second half, UH doubled its lead from eight to 16 led by Grimes’ six quick points.
Grimes continued to stay hot, knocking down three consecutive 3-pointers to extend the Cougars’ lead to 27.
USF responded with a run of their own to cut UH’s lead to 15 but that was as close as the Bulls would get as the Cougars improved to 17-2 and 11-2 in American Athletic Conference play with an 82-65 victory.
Along with Grimes’ 29 points, Jarreau finished with 17 points, eight assists and four rebounds and senior forward Justin Gorham added 11 points and eight boards.