Houston Cougars Drop Alcorn State 88-68

(Houston's Maurice McNeil (3) recorded his second straight double-double against Alcorn State. Photo by Robert Kelly-TexSport Publications, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved)

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2010 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 14, 2010)The Houston Cougars improved their season record to 2-0 Sunday afternoon after downing Alcorn State Braves 88-68 in men’s basketball action at Houston’s Hofheinz Pavilion.

Tied at 35 after the first half, the Cougars exploded with 43 points in the second half to clinch the win and take their season record to 2-0.

The last time the Cougars began the season with two wins was in 2006-2007

With the score tied 42-42 at 17:44 mark in the second quarter, the Cougars ran off 19 points during an eight minute stretch and built a lead of which they would never relinquish.

Senior forward Maurice McNeil recorded his second straight double-double, and senior guard Adam Brown scored 20+ points for the second straight game

McNeil scored 19 points with 12 rebounds while Brown tallied 23 points.

Houston converted 19 of 29 (65.5 percent) of its second half shots while limiting the Braves to only 34.4 percent from the field during the final 20 minutes.

Alcorn State was led by Marquiz Baker with 23 points and Kendrick McDonald with 17 points.

With the loss, Alcorn State drops to 0-2 on the season.

Houston will now hit the road for their first road game of the season. Houston meets Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La., at 7:00 pm this coming Wednesday.

From there, the team returns to the friendly confines of Hofheinz Pavilion to play host to Northwestern Oklahoma State at 2 pm on Saturday.