Local Teams

Quentin Grimes scored 29 points on 10-of-21 shooting to help the No. 8 Houston Cougars cruise to an 82-65 road victory over the South Florida Bulls on Wednesday night in Tampa, Fla.

The Cougars (17-2, 11-2 American Athletic Conference) bounced back in terms of conference play following a loss to East Carolina last week. Wednesday's game was originally scheduled to be played Jan. 14, but postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the South Florida program.

The Bulls (7-6, 3-4), who had their past seven games postponed, played for the first time in 32 days and held their own early, tying the game at 27 on a dunk by Caleb Murphy with 6:45 left in the first half. Houston opened the game hitting 10 of its first 12 shots before going on a 1-for-9 drought.

But Grimes (6-for-10 from 3-point range) helped the Cougars recover their touch and break open a close game by outscoring the Bulls 29-9 over the first nine minutes of the second half.

The Cougars, who led by as many as 28 in the second half, weren't as stingy defensively as they've been so far this season, but held off South Florida during a four-minute scoring drought in the second half.

Houston entered the game allowing 56.9 points per game (second-best in the nation) and holding their opponents to an NCAA-best 36.1 percent from the field as well as 25.1 percent from 3-point range.

The Bulls shot 21-for-49 (42.9 percent) from the field and made 6 of 17 3-point attempts.

David Collins led South Florida with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and added five rebounds and four assists. Michael Durr finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Russel Tchewa had seven points and five rebounds off the bench.

DeJon Jarreau totaled 17 points, eight assists and four rebounds while shooting 8-for-13 from the field. Houston shot 53.2 percent from the field (33-for-62) and 32 percent from 3-point range (8-for-25).

Justin Gorham finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Marcus Sasser totaled seven points, seven assists and three steals.

--Field Level Media