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| Photo by Darla Tamulitis La Vita Loca Photography Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved |
Copyright 2017 TexSport Publications
HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 18, 2017) After leading the SMU Mustangs by 13 points at the 10:23 mark in the first half, the Houston Cougars fell behind in second half scoring and dropped a 76-66 decision to their American Athletic Conference rival at Hofheinz Pavilion on Saturday February 18, 2017. The 8,479 fans in attendance saw the No. 19 Mustangs outscore the Cougars 50-36 in the second half to secure the win and remain atop the conference standings.
Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson talked about the game in the post-game presser.
“A big part of that game is when Rob Gray picked up his fourth foul with 12:40 to go, and obviously he was cooking. We do not have that type of team. They have other weapons. We have Damyean Dotson and Rob Gray. We cannot play without them for an extended stretch. We played great defense for large portions of the shot clock and the next thing you know, it’s a one-and-one. Sometimes that’s frustrating. That was a frustrating game. I am not disappointed in my guys’ effort. I am certainly disappointed that we lost. We were ready to play and well prepared mentally. Those guys did a good job of getting themselves ready to play. You have to make your one-and-ones, free throws and open shots. After all that, the Murphy’s Law that seemed to be working against us, with 5:14 to go we were tied. Rob sat over there for five minutes, and the problem was how well he was playing. He was starting to get it going. When we have Rob and Dotson going at the same time, we are good. Give SMU credit. That is a good team. They are ranked 19th, but they are better than that which tells you how good we are too. Let’s not act like this was not a game that could have went either way for a long time. Sometimes you have to get some breaks and sometimes you have to make your breaks. When the opportunity is there, you have to take advantage of it. We got beat by a good team. I would have liked to see some things a little bit different.”
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| Photo by Darla Tamulitis La Vita Loca Photography Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved |
Houston had three players in double figures. Rob Gray led
the way with 23 points, followed by Damyean Dotson with 19 and Galen Robinson,
Jr. with 11. Gray also tallied six rebounds. The Mustangs were led by Semi
Ojeleye with 22 points along with Ben Moore with 18 points and 13 rebounds. With the win, the Mustangs stay atop the conference standings with a 14-1 record. They are
followed by Cincinnati in second place (13-1) and Houston (9-5). The Cougars
will face fourth place Connecticut (8-5) on Wednesday, February 22 at home with
an 8 p.m. tip off.
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