Pittsburgh, PA (My Sportsbook) - Tyrell Biggs tallied 16 points, as top- ranked Pittsburgh used a second-half surge to shake off South Florida, 75-62, at the Petersen Events Center.

Sam Young scored 14 for the Panthers (16-0, 4-0 Big East), who head to Louisville on Saturday after their victory led them to the third-best start in school history.

Pitt's top two best starts to a season came in 2003-04 (18-0) and 1927-28 (21-0).

DeJuan Blair added 13 points with a game-best 18 rebounds and Levance Fields chipped in 11 points with a game-high 13 assists for Pittsburgh.

Dominique Jones and Augustus Gilchrist each posted 22 points for the Bulls (6-10, 1-3), who have dropped three of four. Chris Howard added 13 points in the loss.

"It was our goal to come in here and try and upset the number one team in the country," offered South Florida head coach Stan Heath. "We knew we had a long shot at best, but we did have an opportunity and we didn't come through. We still did some good things, but it wasn't enough."

Jones nailed a three to bring USF within 47-44 with a little over 16 minutes to play, but Fields responded from beyond the arc and Pitt reeled off eight in a row to go ahead by 11 after Brad Wanamaker hit a shot from long distance.

Young's three-pointer with 11:20 to play put the Panthers up 60-47, and the Bulls were only able to pull within nine as Howard drained a three with 8:06 remaining in the contest.

An 11-3 Pittsburgh run from there put the game out of reach.

"I thought this was a great offensive performance by us tonight," said Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon. "You look at Levance Fields getting 13 assists. That just speaks to how fluidly our offense was running and how in rhythm we were on that end. Give South Florida a lot of credit. I thought they battled very well and were incredibly patient in their offense. It was just a very well played game by both teams."

Pitt charged out of the gate with the first seven points of the contest and went up 10-2 on a Biggs three, but USF came back to within 12-7 on a Gilchrist slam.

The Panthers were up by eight once more on a Gary McGhee layup before eight straight from the Bulls, ending on a three from Gilchrist, knotted the game 18-18 just before the midway point of the half.

A Biggs layup triggered seven in a row from Pitt, but the visitors clawed to another deadlock, at 30-all with 4:41 left, on two from the line by Jesus Verdejo.

However, the Panthers finished the half strongly, going up by 41-35 on a Fields three before two Jones free throws made it a four-point game at the break.

Game Notes

Pitt has won three of the five meetings...Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes was in attendance...The Panthers hit 10-of-18 from beyond the arc, and the Bulls connected on 7-of-14...South Florida lost despite committing just nine turnovers, one more than Pittsburgh...Thanks to Blair, Pitt enjoyed a 37-23 advantage on the boards...Jones led USF with seven assists.