Houston fends off Saint Louis for 10th win

Senior Corey Davis Jr. had hit a slump in recent games, but led the Cougars with 17 points against the Billikens. | Kathryn Lenihan/The Cougar

Houston walked into game 10 of the season looking to secure the second-best start in school history, and that is exactly what the team accomplished with a 68-64 win over Saint Louis.

The squad now boasts a 10-0 win-loss record and a place in the record books behind the 1967-68 Cougars that started 31-0, which featured future Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes.

While Houston came away with a win, it was quite a hard-fought contest.

Senior Breaon Brady faced some trouble in the early going as a pair of fouls, which led to turnovers, forced him to the bench just three minutes into the contest.

“(Brady)’s middle name is ‘foul’,” said head coach Kelvin Sampson. “First two plays of the game he fouls. He actually fouled some and they didn’t call it.”

Even without the team’s resident starting big man, the Cougars scored early inside the paint to jump out to 19-10 lead halfway through the first half.

The Billikens continuously ran the Cougars off the three-point line, which led to easy driving lanes for senior guard Galen Robinson Jr. and junior guard Armoni Brooks.

That 9-point cushion did not last for long though as Saint Louis finished the half on a 17-10 scoring run and went into halftime down just two, courtesy of four consecutive Houston turnovers.

Saint Louis carried that first half momentum into the second half, jumping out to a six-point lead before Sampson called timeout to rally his troops. Houston recovered the lead with a run of its own, but Saint Louis never trailed by more than a couple of possessions.

Sloppy play by Houston late allowed Saint Louis to comeback as UH allowed 18 points off 14 turnovers.

With the game knotted up at 63 apiece and under 40-seconds remaining, senior Corey Davis Jr. drilled a cold-blooded triple to seal the victory for the Cougars.

After starting the season red-hot, Davis Jr. has had some struggles from behind the arc as of late, shooting just 8-of-36 for 22 percent in his last five games.

“I believe I got that shot off because I wasn’t focused on it. I came into today’s game worrying about my matchup playing defense and being a good leader to my teammates; just overall playing hard,” said Davis Jr. “Just let the game come to you, play hard, and everything else will fall into place. That’s why I got that good look and it went in.”

Davis Jr. finished the game with 17 points on 3-of-5 from distance, along with 6-of-6 shooting at the foul line.

Houston’s next game will be Thursday Dec. 20 against Utah State at 7 p.m.

sports@thedailycougar.com


Houston fends off Saint Louis for 10th win” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar

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