Riding five straight wins, the SMU Mustangs went into the USF Sun Dome with hopes of extending the streak to six, a season high.

SMU easily won in the last meeting, so it should have been an easy win. Somebody forgot to tell the Bulls; SMU lost 78-71.

The Mustangs looked sloppy in the first half. They committed nine turnovers, and were outscored in the paint. This being a Mustangs team that has outscored all opponents in the paint this season.

Nic Moore led SMU in shooting with eight points in the first half, but USF’s defense allowed only one assist.

That assist came on the final play of the half that saw Keith Frazier score a three. SMU went into the half trailed 30-29.

Moore didn’t like trailing by one at the half. The sophomore guard went off for 10 straight points in the second half, but SMU struggled to find a consistent scoring threat after that.

The Mustangs didn’t fix their first-half problems. In the game, SMU was outrebounded 29-24, outscored in the paint, committed 16 turnovers, and gave up 53.1 percent shooting. Not a typical SMU outing.

Outside of Moore, there wasn’t a single player who stood out.

In fact, Markus Kennedy epitomized the team’s sloppiness. Despite 11 points and eight rebounds, the big man had a ghastly eight turnovers and looked flat-out bad on defense.

USF had great games from Victor Rudd (21 points), Corey Allen (18 points and five assists), and Chris Perry (18 points and eight rebounds). That trio motivated USF to victory.

Following this disappointing loss, SMU will travel back to Moody Coliseum for a three-game stretch.

The first game will be a tough match-up against No. 22 Memphis. If the Mustangs can pull off that victory, their season will be back on track. That game will be on Saturday at 2 p.m.