When the rest of the team was struggling in the first half, it turned into the Edmond Santa Fe show with DaQuan Jeffries and Curran Scott.

Former high school teammates Jeffries and Scott combined for 20 of Tulsa’s 34 points coming off the bench in the first half as Tulsa cruised by South Florida 73-61 on Sunday afternoon in front of 4,120 fans at the Reynolds Center.

“It’s good to see Curran get some production off the bench with him and Quan,” said Tulsa coach Frank Haith.

The nine points Scott scored in the first half were especially encouraging considering he has been going through a rough spell in the last part of the season. His playing time had dwindled, and he was clearly struggling.

Scott’s 11 points on three of five from the field in 16 minutes matched his total of 11 points in the previous nine games - a stretch where he had played 10 minutes in a game only once. He had seen his scoring average go down from 7.4 to 5.2 per game in that stretch.

It has been disappointing, considering he averaged 10.5 points as a freshman at Charlotte before transferring to Tulsa.

“It feels good. Coach Haith gives us freedom in the offense,” Scott said. “Guys found me open. DaQuan found me for a three one time. I was able to get going to the basket a few times.

“It’s good, but it’s near in time for the conference tournament, so we need all hands on deck. So, we’re just trying to bring everybody along, myself included.”

Without Jeffries, who took all his shots in the first half (four of six from the field, and three of four on threes), and Scott, the Golden Hurricane would have had an incredibly dismal first half. The duo combined for seven of nine from the field in the first half, while the rest of the team finished five of 24 in the half.

USF shot poorly in the first half, making only six of 22 shots.

“Our defense has been tough and getting better,” Haith said. “We have an identity of who we are, so that’s what we’ve got to hang our hats on night in and night out. I’m really encouraged about our defensive execution. We’re guarding the ball better. Our technique is better.”

Tulsa (16-10, 9-5 AAC) extended its win streak to five, but the way the game started, it looked like it could be a tough night. With no points before the first media timeout, it took a three-pointer by Jeffries at the 15:38 mark in the first half to break a 7-0 deficit.

It took a little over a half to catch up, but once Tulsa did, hapless USF (8-20, 1-14) didn’t stand a chance.

An impressive drive through traffic by Sterling Taplin just before halftime extended Tulsa’s lead to 34-23, and the Golden Hurricane continued a run into the second half where they scored 19 consecutive points on the way to a 45-23 lead.

The game was a blowout from that point, with some meaningless buckets at the end by the Bulls making the game seem much closer than it really was. There was never any second half suspense.

Martins Igbanu scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half, and was unstoppable in the paint, finishing seven of nine from the field.

“It was just my teammates finding me,” said Igbanu. “Coach said before the game and at halftime to trust in yourself and others, and that is what we did. He told us coming into halftime to go inside and pass it to me and the rest of the guys inside to finish.”

David Collins and Stephan Jiggetts led USF in scoring with 17 and 16 points, respectively.

Junior Etou had 11 points and nine rebounds and was a strong presence passing, leading Tulsa with five assists.

Tulsa plays UCF at 8 p.m. Wednesday night at the Reynolds Center.