Cold spell spoils Cougars’ streak

TULSA, Okla. — Darien Jackson scored a careerhigh 19 points and Houston allowed Tulsa to score the last seven points of the game as the Cougars fell 6361 on Saturday.

Houston’s six-game win streak came to an end when Marcus Sasser missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds, the Cougars’ seventh-straight miss in the last five minutes.

After a DeJon Jarreau layup put Houston ahead 6054, the Cougars were limited to one free throw. In addition to the seven-straight missed shots, Houston had three turnovers.

Jackson’s dunk cut the deficit to four and after seven empty possessions for both teams he followed the Houston free throw with a 3-pointer to cut it to 61-60 with 1:48 to play.

Houston had a turnover Brandon Rachel turned into the lead with a pair of free throws at the 1:09 mark. Then Houston missed a shot and Rachel converted two more free throws with 34 seconds left.

There was another turnover but Tulsa missed the front end of a one-and-one but the Cougars couldn’t convert that into the winner.

The difference in the close game was Tulsa hitting 17 of 20 free throws for 85 percent, while Houston only attempted 11 free throws, making eight.

The Golden Hurricane shot 46-percent from the field, and after shooting 50percent in the first 30 minutes, the Cougars were held to just 29-percent in the second half to finish at 39 percent for the game.

Jeriah Horne added 10 points for Tulsa (10-6, 2-1 American Athletic Conference).

Caleb Mills had 22 points for the Cougars (12-4, 2-1). Jarreau added 16 points and Sasser 14 points.