Houston wins eighth straight

HOUSTON — Marcus Sasser scored 19 points and No. 6 Houston beat SMU 70-48 on Sunday for its eighth straight win.

Sasser bounced back to make five of his last 10 shots. After scoring just three points in a victory over Tulane on Thursday, he opened 0 for 5 against the Mustangs.

“My teammates kept telling me every time I went to the bench, ‘Keep shooting the ball,’ ” Sasser said. “Coach (Kelvin Sampson) tells me all the time he doesn’t care how many I miss, just keep shooting. Even when I am off to a bad start like that, I keep shooting and gaining confidence because my teammates put that confidence in me even though I miss.”

Justin Gorham had nine points and 17 rebounds for Houston (15-1, 10-1 American

Athletic Conference), which won its 20th consecutive home game. Reggie Chaney added 10 points.

The Cougars won despite shooting only 34%.

“I thought our offense was great the first half, we just weren’t making open shots,” Sampson said. “Look at how many open shots we missed, look at how many shots around the rim we were missing. I told our guys, ‘Don’t worry about that, you’ll make them.’ ”

Houston outrebounded SMU 45-33 and committed 10 turnovers.

NO. 13 OHIO STATE 79, MICHIGAN STATE 62

COLUMBUS, Ohio — No. 13 Ohio State caught Michigan State in the midst of a uncommon skid and beat the blue-blood Big Ten program for the first time in its last five tries.

The Spartans had 20 days off because of COVID-19 issues and then lost to Rutgers by 30 points on Thursday night. The shooting went cold again in the second half on Sunday, and the opportunistic Buckeyes cruised to a 79-62 rout.

Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann doesn’t expect to see the same team when the Buckeyes visit East Lansing on Feb. 25.

“Listen, I think they certainly missed some shots that they’ll make, and they’ll certainly make at their place and they’ll make once they get their legs back,” Holtmann said. “There’s not a better lateseason coach in the country than Tom (Izzo).”

E.J. Liddell had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Justice Sueing added 17 to lead the Buckeyes (14-4, 8-4 Big Ten), who again played solid defense. They’ve won three in a row and six of seven.