No. 5 Houston rebounds from its first loss with convincing win
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson spent a lot of time at halftime talking to his team about rebounding and being aggressive. The No. 5 Cougars responded.
“The second half, I just liked our execution, I liked the ball movement and I liked our rebounding,” Sampson said. “We looked like a Houston basketball team.”
Quentin Grimes hit a goahead three- pointer to ignite a 10- 0 run to start the second half for Houston and the Cougars rebounded from their first loss with a 7460 victory over previously undefeated Southern Methodist on Sunday night.
That three- pointer by Grimes from the top of the key to put Houston ( 8- 1, 3- 1 American) ahead to stay on the f irst shot after halftime and Justin Gorham then made a three. Grimes also had a layup and two free throws in that game- turning run in just over 21⁄ minutes.
2 Marcus Sasser led Houston with 17 points, and Gorham had 11 points and 19 rebounds. DeJon Jarreau scored 15 points.
Kendric Davis led SMU ( 6- 1, 2- 1) with 23 points. Feron Hunt had a doubledouble with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Ethan Chargois scored 10 points.
Grimes, Houston’s leading scorer at 18.5 points a game and second in the AAC only to Davis’ 19.2 coming in, f inished with 11 points. He was scoreless with only one shot before halftime, when he played only eight minutes after two early fouls.
The Mustangs had the largest lead of the f irst half when Chargois followed his missed three- pointer that would have snapped a tie with assists on consecutive impressive baskets that made it 30- 25 with 2: 39 left in the first half, though they led by only one at the break.
at No. 21 Minnesota 77, No. 25 Ohio State 60: Liam Robbins had 27 points, 14 rebounds and f ive blocks, keeping up his effective introduction to the Big Ten. Marcus Carr added 15 points and Gabe Kalscheur scored 13 for the Gophers ( 10- 2, 2- 2), who emerged with three wins from a 10- day, fourgame stretch — all against top 25 foes. Duane Washington Jr. had 21 points on f ivefor- seven shooting from three- point range, but the Buckeyes ( 8- 3, 2- 3) shot just eight for 32 in the second half while watching a six- point halftime deficit slip further away. E. J. Liddell added 10 points for Ohio State.
at No. 16 Michigan 85, No. 19 Northwestern 66: Hunter Dickinson scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half and Michigan remained unbeaten. Chaundee Brown, Franz Wagner and Eli Brooks scored 14 points apiece for the Wolverines ( 9- 0, 4- 0), who are the Big Ten’s last remaining team without a loss. Michigan took control by scoring the last nine points of the f irst half and then quickly extended its lead early in the second. Robbie Beran scored 14 points for Northwestern ( 6- 3, 3- 2). The Wildcats have dropped two in a row after a promising start. This was the first time these teams had met while both were ranked in the top 25. Michigan led 34- 29 near the end of the first half when the Wolverines made three three- pointers to go up 43- 29 at the break. Brooks had two of them and Wagner made the other.