UH hits AAC-record 18 3s in rout of Tulsa; A&M women hand Tennessee first loss.
UH sets record in conference by hitting 18 from long distance
Late in Thursday night’s game, point guard Galen Robinson Jr. got word the University of Houston was closing in on a conference record for 3-pointers.
A few fans inside H&PE Arena yelled for the Cougars to launch from 3-point range on nearly every possession.
“Word of mouth,” UH guard Rob Gray said. “Somebody must have said it, and (Galen) must have heard it and jumped on it. I think that’s why he shot that last pull-up because he was trying to add to the record.”
Just call them the Trey Ward Cougars. UH set an American Athletic Conference record with 18 3s, and Gray added a game-high 34 points in a 104-71 rout of Tulsa.
‘It feels normal’
UH made 13 3s during a 59-point first half and kept firing away, leading by as many as 40 points in the second half. Gray broke the record of 17, set by Tulsa eight days earlier against Connecticut, with nine minutes left. The Cougars missed their final five 3s to come up short of the school record 19 set against Florida Tech in 2005.
For the game, UH shot 52.9 percent (18-of-34) from beyond the arc. Gray and Armoni Brook had five 3s apiece, while Corey Davis Jr., Wes VanBeck and Gabe Grant accounted for the other eight. The Cougars entered the game 34th nationally in 3-point shooting (39.4 percent).
“It feels normal,” Gray said. “In practice when we move the ball a lot and hit a lot of 3s, we know that’s our strength. So when we do what we do, we can’t be too happy. You don’t get a pat on the back for doing what you’re supposed to do.”
While the Cougars were hot on 3s, Gray rediscovered his shooting touch. The AAC’s reigning scoring champion went through a small slump, averaging 10.7 points and shooting 35.1 percent in the previous three games.
Earlier in the week, coach Kelvin Sampson said an emphasis would be put on getting Gray the ball earlier in the shot clock. The 6-1 senior guard said he needed to return to “attack mode” and be more aggressive getting to the basket.
That was evident as Gray had 15 points less than seven minutes into the game. He finished the game by hitting 12-of-17 from the floor.
“When that first shot went through, I forgot all about the other three games,” Gray said.
Gray worked tirelessly in the gym the past week and arrived three hours early for shoot-around Thursday and “probably put up 500 shots,” Sampson said.
“That’s how you get through something,” Sampson added. “You don’t talk about it. You don’t dissect it. You don’t think about it. You work through it.”
Controlling the tempo
UH (13-3, 3-1 AAC) improved to 8-0 this season at its temporary home on the Texas Southern campus. The game was also a bounce back from a 81-63 loss at ninth-ranked Wichita State.
After Tulsa closed within 22-18, the Cougars pulled away with a 22-4 run during the final 14 minutes of the first half. The Golden Hurricane went more than six minutes without scoring and nine minutes without a field goal, missing 11 of 12 shots.
On defense, UH forward Devin Davis held Tulsa’s leading scorer Junior Etou to 0-for-6 shooting and a pair of free throws.
Igbanu led Tulsa with 27 points.