Gary McGhee converted a three-point play and Brad Wanamaker hit a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions, sparking a 20-5 run that propelled No. 4 Pittsburgh past visiting South Florida, 67-55, Wednesday night.

The Panthers (24-2, 12-1 Big East) led by only one just past the midway mark of the second half, 45-44, before limiting the Bulls to two field goals over the next 8-plus minutes.

Wanamaker and Nasir Robinson tallied 13 points each, while Gilbert Brown and reserve Talib Zanna both added 11 for the Panthers, who played their third straight game without injured leading scorer Ashton Gibbs (knee).

Despite the absence of Gibbs, the Panthers earned road wins over West Virginia and Villanova last week. Pitt has another travel test Saturday at St. John's, which already boasts home victories over No. 5 Duke, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 9 Georgetown and No. 12 Connecticut.

It looked like things would be easy Wednesday for Pitt, which led by 13 in the first half, but Shaun Noriega's buzzer-beating 3-pointer cut the Bulls' deficit to 36-29 at halftime and they continued to chip away in the second.

Noriega's 11 points paced USF (8-19, 2-12), while Jarrid Famous and Augustus Gilchrist each added 10.