Houston 72, USF 55: Devonta Pollard had 18 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high tying five steals to help the Cougars to an easy home victory over the Bulls.

LeRon Barnes added 15 points for Houston (10-18, 2-14 American), which was helped by a 37-25 edge on the boards, including a 17-6 advantage on the offensive glass. Wes VanBeck had 12 points off the bench for the Cougars while Jherrod Stigers tallied 11 points and a career high-tying seven assists.

Freshman Troy Holston Jr. finished with season highs of 22 points and seven rebounds to lead USF (8-21, 2-14) in both categories. Nehemias Morillo scored 12 points and Ruben Guerrero chipped in nine points and six boards.

Houston jumped out to a 9-1 lead, holding USF without a field goal for the first four-plus minutes of the game, and led 18-5 on Danrad Knowles' 3-pointer with under 13 minutes to go in the half. But the Cougars then went more than five minutes without a point, and the Bulls got all the way back to within two with just over six minutes left before settling for a four-point halftime deficit.

The Cougars started the second half hot as well, opening on a 15-2 run, with Weary scoring six of those points, and led by 17 on a Stiggers layup with under 11 minutes to play. The Bulls could never put together another significant run and Houston won going away.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Bulls were playing their first game without leading scorer Corey Allen Jr., who was declared ineligible for six games on Saturday for receiving impermissible benefits. … USF went 6-of-13 from 3-point range while Houston shot 9-of-20 beyond the arc. … Pollard and Knowles combined for nine of the Cougars' 10 steals in the game.