Freshman guard Jahmal McMurray scored a career-high 30 points to lead South Florida to a surprising 71-62 victory over Houston on Saturday at Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston.

Senior forward Angel Nunez added 10 points and five rebounds for USF (4-17, 1-7 American Athletic Conference), which snapped a nine-game losing streak.

Junior forward Danrad Knowles had 15 points and seven rebounds for Houston (13-6, 3-4). Sophomore guard Wes VanBeck scored 12 points and junior guard Damyean Dotson had 11.

Houston led 9-6 early, but USF staged a 17-4 run to take a 23-13 on a dunk by sophomore forward Bo Zeigler. The Bulls went up by 13 points late in the half and carried a 32-22 lead into the break.

USF extended its lead to 14 early in the second half and later went up 44-28 on a free throw by Nunez.

Houston stormed back to cut the deficit to seven on a jumper by freshman guard Galen Robinson Jr. The Cougars got within four on two free throws by junior guard Ronnie Johnson with 5:28 to go, but the Bulls scored the next six points to regain control.