TAMPA, Fla. ? Since February dawned, USF's men have ended their nine-game skid to UCF and earned the program's first Quad 1 triumph at Memphis.
But still, the Bulls' futility against ranked opposition still festers.
Down by 11 in the second half against No. 20 Houston, the Bulls (11-13, 5-7 American Athletic Conference) made it interesting but couldn't quite make it historic as the Cougars escaped with a 62-58 victory at the Yuengling Center.
USF now has dropped 29 in a row to ranked opponents, a swoon that began following a 58-51 win at No. 19 Louisville on Feb. 29, 2012.
Facing the nation's top rebounding team, the Bulls held their own on the glass and managed only five turnovers in the first half, but struggled (7 for 22) from the floor while the Cougars shot 50% (13 for 26).
They trailed by 10 when 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman Madut Akec sank a 3-pointer ? only his third of the year ? to spark a 9-0 run that cut their deficit to 24-23. But USF managed only one field goal ? a Justin Brown trey ? in the final 3:58 of the half as Houston went to the locker room with a 31-26 lead.
The Cougars increased it to 11, hitting five consecutive shots midway through the second half, but the Bulls refused to wilt.
Three-pointers by Brown and Laquincy Rideau in a 2:15 span cut the Bulls' deficit to five. It dwindled to three on David Collins' layup with 4:37 to go.
It fell to two, 53-51, on Brown's third 3-pointer of the night with 3:03 remaining. Collins had a chance to make it a one-point game, but missed two free throws with 53.9 seconds to go. A put-back by DeJon Jarreau at the other end with 21 seconds remaining increased the Cougars' cushion to 58-53.
Houston needed it. Rideau's 3-pointer four seconds later again made it a two-point contest, but sophomore Quentin Grimes hit a pair of free throws with 9.7 seconds remaining to give Houston a two-possession advantage.
