Edwards leads No. 10 Houston over USF for 8th straight win

HOUSTON -- — Kyler Edwards had 23 points and seven rebounds, Fabian White Jr. added 16 points and five rebounds, and No. 10 Houston won its eighth straight by beating South Florida 74-55 on Tuesday night.

Edwards, who scored a career-high 29 points with seven 3-pointers on Saturday night, had six 3-pointers against the Bulls and 17 first-half points.

“I feel like I’m in a good rhythm, but I also give credit to my teammates because they are always looking for me,” Edwards said. “They know where I’m at at all times, so I just give credit to them and how they look for me.”

Josh Carlton finished with 15 points and five rebounds, and Taze Moore scored 13 points for the Cougars (16-2, 5-0 American Athletic Conference).

“They were ready to double team tonight, so something I have been improving on is making better decisions on playing out of the double team,” said Carlton, who had 30 points and 11 rebounds in Houston’s win at South Florida on Jan. 5. “I was making sure I was finding the open teammate, make the smart plays, not trying to force it and just playing smart basketball.

"I think I’m getting better at that and just trying to improve every game as I’m seeing different defenses.”

Houston, which shot 45%, won its 35th straight home game — the third-longest active home-winning streak in the nation behind Gonzaga and Liberty.

“For these guys after everything they’ve been through to be sitting here at 5-0 and 16-2 is pretty remarkable to me,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “How long is it going to last? I don’t know. Everybody’s going to lose. … We just got to continue playing good and get ready for the next one.”

DJ Patrick scored 19 points, and Caleb Murphy added 12 points for the Bulls (6-11, 1-4), which lost their fourth in the last five games.

South Florida shot 35%, went seven of 22 on 3-pointers and were forced into 17 turnovers, which Houston turned into 17 points.

“They did a great job of heating us up a little bit and that forced the turnovers,” South Florida coach Brian Gregory said. “You got to make shots. When open shots show, you don’t have to make every one but nearly every one.”

After South Florida scored the first four points of the game, Houston used a 17-2 run over a six-minute span to open up an 11-point lead. Houston upped its lead to as much as 23 in the first half and led 38-18 at the half.

BIG PICTURE

South Florida: The Bulls have not beaten a ranked team since Feb. 29, 2012, at Louisville. … South Florida struggled shooting in the first half, making 28% of its shots and going 1 for 10 on 3-pointers. … The Bulls outrebounded Houston, 39-36.

Houston: The Cougars have won 11 straight against South Florida. … Houston guard Jamal Shead, who sprained his right ankle early in the game Saturday night and missed the rest of it, came off the bench on Tuesday and played 20 minutes. He played with a sleeve on his right leg.

Sampson said Shead was on crutches and in a boot on Sunday and was limping Monday, but he was running in shootaround Tuesday. Sampson had said Monday morning that the team expected Shead to miss at least a week with the injury.

“I was shocked when I saw him running,” Sampson said.

THROWBACK TUESDAY

Houston donned the uniforms worn by the team from the late 1950s until the 1985-86 season.

UP NEXT

South Florida: Hosts Temple on Saturday.

Houston: Hosts East Carolina on Saturday.

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