Cougars handle Huskies in cruise control
Hinton finds focus with double-double in bounce-back from loss to No. 11 Oregon
Through the first couple weeks of the season, Nate Hinton admitted his mind was not where it needed to be.
Focus was not a problem Tuesday night.
Hinton had a double-double by halftime as the University of Houston enjoyed a get-well game with a 112-73 victory over Houston Baptist at Fertitta Center.
Hinton finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, both career highs, as the Cougars bounced back from a 78-66 loss four days earlier at No. 11 Oregon.
“My mind was on other things and I had to reel myself back in,” Hinton, a 6-5 sophomore guard, said of his early struggles. “Coach (Kelvin Sampson) reeled me back in and I took a step back and said at the end of day we want to win and that’s the only thing on my mind.”
Marcus Sasser added 18 points — on six 3-pointers — off the bench as the Cougars piled up their most points since scoring 131 against Florida Tech in 2005.
Quentin Grimes had 17 points and Fabian White Jr. added 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. UH won for the 36th time in the last 38 home games.
Myles Pierre led HBU with 15 points, and Ian DuBose added 13. Tuesday’s game marked another stiff test for the Huskies (0-5), who have played NCAA Tournament teams Texas Tech, Michigan and Houston during a six-game road swing to begin the season. Those three schools have scored 103, 111 and 112 against HBU.
The Huskies pulled within eight, 36-28, with less than seven minutes left in the first half on back-to-back 3s by Pierre. From that point, UH went on a 16-0 run, with half the points coming from Hinton and White. HBU went more than 5½ minutes without scoring as the Cougars seized a 5228 lead.
HBU pulled no closer than 18 points in the second half.
Against HBU, UH made 11 3pointers and shot 52.4 percent from beyond the arc. On the defensive end, UH held the Huskies to 35.4 percent shooting and posted 11 blocks.
DeJon Jarreau, who missed a month in preseason camp with a broken hand, stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, six assists, five rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
“Every week just believing more in myself,” Jarreau said.
The only thing that seemed to slow down Hinton was a collision late in the first half that sent him to the bench to ice his knee. He returned to play 18 minutes in the second half, finishing with his third career double-double.
“I thought Nate was our most valuable player in the first half, just with his energy,” Sampson said. “He played hard. He played aggressive to the boards.”
Grimes got hot in the second half, scoring 12 of his points during a four-minute blitz midway through the second half. Sasser, a true freshman, came off the bench to hit five of his 3s after halftime.
The Cougars have won all 13 meetings against HBU.
Sampson praised his team’s defensive effort in the first half but said the Cougars “let go of the rope” to begin the second.
“You’ve got to hold them accountable for the things that might later in the year come back and bite us,” he said. “We’re trying to create good habits.”