Brooks, Davis help Cougars bounce back
Throughout the season, the University of Houston has wondered what it would be like for Armoni Brooks and Corey Davis Jr. to shoot well in the same game.
It did not happen in the first half Saturday night, as the Cougars continued an alarming trend of falling behind early.
Davis and Brooks got hot in the second half, combining to shoot 7 of 12 from 3point range, as the No. 17 Cougars rallied to beat Wichita State 79-70 before a sellout crowd of 7,039 at Fertitta Center, extending the nation’s longest home winning streak to 29 games.
The win was a muchneeded bounce back for the Cougars, who were coming off their first loss of the season, 73-69 to Temple. UH improved to 16-1 on the season and 3-1 in the American Athletic Conference.
“I was a little bit worried about this game,” UH coach Kelvin Sampson said. “When the game started, I thought we were OK, but I could tell we looked tired. I was concerned about that.”
For the sixth time in the last eight games, the Cougars fell behind in the first half as the Shockers — aided by a 11-0 run — built their largest lead 29-21 late in the first half and led by five at halftime.
Brooks and Davis went a combined 1 of 10 from 3point range for eight points in the first half.
The second half was a different story. UH went on a 14-0 run in the opening minutes with Davis hitting a 3pointer to tie the game at 40 and Brooks following with three straight threes. Brooks struggled with 2-of-12 shooting in the loss to Temple.
“You never know when Armoni is going to make 5 out of 6 (shots),” Sampson said. “Like in the first half, he was in the witness protection program. I don’t even remember it. Was he out there? Look at what he did in the second half. That’s why you just have to hang in there with him. You’ve got to know your players.”
Later in the second half, with UH clinging to a 57-56 lead, Brooks and Davis answered with three straight threes to push the advantage to nine. Davis finished with 20 points and Brooks had 14, all but two coming in the second half.
“Those guys are snipers,” Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. “Our guys don’t see that in practice. They don’t see a sniper that can just rise up from 25 feet and stroke it.”
Davis, whose potential game-tying layup was wiped out on an offensive charging foul in the closing seconds against Temple, said he had no doubt how the Cougars would respond. UH has not consecutive games since January 2017.
“We have a good group of kids,” said Davis, who had a bandage above his left eye that required stitches after the game. “They hate losing.”
Fabian White Jr., making his first career start, had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Galen Robinson added six points and a career-high 11 assists.
“The whole key is Galen,” Sampson said. “These guys are eating, but Galen is the one feeding them.”
Robinson has 489 career assists, 11 shy of moving to fourth in school history.
“Sheesh,” he said. “That’s a lot of dimes.”
Wichita State (7-8, 0-3 AAC) made things interesting down the stretch as Markis McDuffie hit a pair 3pointers to close the deficit to 75-70 with 1:16 remaining. DeJon Jarreau and Davis hit four straight free throws to seal the game. Jarreau had 13 points, which included a perfect 8 of 8 from the freethrow line.