Cougars are 8-0 for first time since 1969

STILLWATER, Okla. — Armoni Brooks scored 23 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead Houston over Oklahoma State 63-53 on Saturday.

Brooks, the reigning American Athletic Conference Player of the Week, shot 7-of-13 from 3-point range, tying a career-high, while the Cougars connected on 35.3 percent of their 3-pointers overall (12 for 34).

Corey Davis Jr. added 14 points and seven rebounds for Houston.

“I just thought our kids were prepared,” said Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, who made his first appearance in Stillwater since he coached rival Oklahoma from 1995-2006. “We came in here really focused in on how we wanted to guard their offense. Just proud of our overall toughness, just how we competed.”

The victory leaves the Cougars 8-0 for just the third time in school history and the first time since the 1969-70 season. That season the Cougars started 8-0 — with each win coming at what was then known as Hofheinz Pavilion — before losing on Dec. 29 to Santa Clara in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic.

“Some of that has to do with your schedule,” Sampson said. “I was looking at (Oklahoma State's) schedule, we'd probably be 4-4 with that same schedule. We're a good team, we're not a great team. I think our team can get better as we go. They may be 8-0 if they played our schedule.”

Freshman Isaac Likekele scored a career-high 16 points and had four assists to lead Oklahoma State (4-5), which lost its third straight game.

Oklahoma State was limited to a season-low 35.1 percent shooting from the floor (20 for 57).

“Tough day at the office for us, we struggled offensively,” Cowboys coach Mike Boynton said. “My job is to make sure that between now and the next time we play, the things that happened today don't happen again, in terms of lack of offensive execution and lack of defensive rebounding.”

Likekele capped off a 10-0 Oklahoma State run with a 3pointer from the left corner 2:32 into the second half to give the Cowboys a 37-36 advantage, but Houston responded with three consecutive 3-pointers of its own, two from Brooks, and never relinquished the lead again.

This was the teams’ first meeting since the 1965 NCAA Tournament. The Cougars’ win marks their first in Stillwater in nine tries.