Houston Cougars Down NWOSU 81-58; Maurice McNeil Gets Third Double-Double

(Photo by Robert Kelly-TexSport Publications, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved)

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2010 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 20, 2010) The Houston Cougars jumped out to a 17 point lead at halftime in route to a 81-58 win over the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers at Hofheinz Pavilion.

The Cougars had a balanced game with 11 players getting playing minutes with nine scoring points.

Maurice McNeil led the Cougars with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Darian Thibodeaux chipped in 15 while Kendrick Washington came off the bench to score 13.

Kirk Van Slyke added 11 points with five rebounds in the win.

Zamal Nixon continued his solid all-around play, scoring 10 points with a game-high eight assists, five rebounds and two steals.

The Rangers led early in the game, 7-4 with 17 minutes left in the half. Houston tied it up at the 16:10 mark on a 3-pointer by Van Slyke. From that point on, it was Houston’s game.

Houston scored 24 of 31 field goals in the first half but could manage only 16 of 39 in the second.

Head coach James Dickey emptied his bench midway through the second half to give some much needed playing time to all his players while the season is still young.

While leading the Cougars to the win, McNeil got his third double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) of the season.

With the win, the Cougars improved to 3-1 overall, while the Rangers dropped to 4-1.