Houston Cougars down Chicago State 79-54

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2012 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (December 22, 2012) Sophomore guard Joseph Young gave credit to all his teammates after his 24 point performance in the Houston Cougars’ 79-54 win over Chicago State at Hofheinz Pavilion non Saturday afternoon.

“As a team, we played great today. On the defensive end everyone was hustling.”

Young connected on 8-of-15 shots from the field, including five-three pointers along with three free throws.

Teammate TaShawn Thomas added 21 points and was 7-of 7 from the free throw line.

Thirteen Houston players saw court time, with freshman Valentine Inundu coming off the bench and scoring nine of the Cougars’ 22 bench points.

Head coach James Dickey was very pleased with Inundu’s play.

“I was pleased with Valentine. You can see the tremendous potential he has. He’s 17 years old, and he’s going to get better and better.”

Young’s 24 points was his third-straight 20-point game with Thomas acquiring his fifth 20-point game of the season.

Houston jumped out to a 15 point advantage at the half (40-25) and never relinquished the lead in the second half.

Their largest lead came at the 5:54 mark in the second half when Valentine hit a two-pointer jumper off a pass from Thomas.

Brandon Morris and Danuel House both contributed nine points to Houston’s scoring total with Leon Gipson pulling down 12 rebounds.

The Cougars will have three days off before they return to Houston to prepare for a rematch against Prairie View A&M on December 29.

Dickey states in the post-game press conference that he is excited about facing Panthers.

“When they (the Cougars) get back, we’re excited about the challenger ahead. They have a good team, they play well and we have to play a lot better here on the 29th.”

Houston lost to Prairie View 81-80 on November 28 when Carl Blair hit 1-of-2 free throws with 5.95 seconds remaining in the game.