MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kasean Pryor made a go-ahead free throw with 4 seconds left, and South Florida rallied from a 20-point deficit to stun No. 10 Memphis 74-73 on Thursday night.
Pryor finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and reserve Selton Miguel led USF with 23 points, going 5-of-10 from 3-point range. The Bulls (10-4, 3-1 American Athletic Conference) have won eight of nine and ended a 10-game winning streak for the Tigers (15-3, 4-1), who hadn’t lost since a narrow defeat at Mississippi on Dec. 2.
The Bulls are the fourth team since 2010-11 to come back from 20 points down to beat an AP top-10 opponent, and the first unranked team to do so since February 2011, when Colorado upset No. 5 Texas, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Thursday’s victory snapped South Florida’s 38-game losing streak to AP-ranked opponents, including 31 straight losses against ranked conference opponents.
With the score tied at 73-all, Pryor took an inbound pass alone in the paint and elevated for a dunk but took a hard foul from Nae’Qwan Tomlin. Pryor made the first free throw but missed the second, and Memphis’ Jahvon Quinerly missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
David Jones led Memphis with 25 points and Quinerly finished with 15. Chris Youngblood had 13 points for USF.
Memphis led 52-32 early in the second half and USF responded by going on a 9-0 run with Pryor, Kobe Knox and Brandon Stroud each making a 3. The Bulls inched closer throughout the period and Jayden Reid tied it with a layup with 37 seconds left — his only basket of the game. A turnover by Quinerly helped set up USF for Pryor’s decisive free throw.
Jones had 18 points in the first half — including a run of 11 straight — for Memphis, which led 47-32 at the break. The Tigers were effective in transition, finishing the half with a 17-0 advantage in fast-break points and scoring 14 points off eight Bulls turnovers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.