Cougars dodge Flames with 25-4 finishing run

The University of Houston withstood a barrage of 3-pointers, but even then it could not quite pull away midway through the second half.

Then the Cougars turned up the intensity. Flame on. Flame out. UH used a 25-4 closing stretch, and the Liberty Flames went the final 11 minutes without a field goal as the Cougars pulled away for a 77-54 win Wednesday night at Hofheinz Pavilion.

Damyean Dotson had a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars.

“The last 10 minutes is about as good as we can play at both ends,” UH coach Kelvin Sampson said. “I thought we defended well, we rebounded well, we moved the ball well and we got good shots. When we play both ends and we get five guys playing hard, I think we can be a good team.”

Liberty (5-8), of the Big South Conference, made seven of its first 10 3-point shots against UH’s zone defense. The Flames shot nearly 60 percent and trailed 35-34 at halftime.

Sampson said the barrage of 3s was the result of “defensive mistakes and breakdowns.”

“We knew they were going to come in here and try and control tempo,” Sampson added. “I think their game plan was to shoot in the last five seconds of the shot clock. That’s a little dicey sometimes, but they made a bunch of 3s.”

Ryan Kemrite, a junior from Conroe, hit the Flames’ final 3-pointer to tie the score at 47 with 14:04 remaining. Kemrite finished with 15 points.

After Liberty closed within 52-50, the Cougars (9-2) went on their 25-4 run. The stretch was sparked by another big performance by Dotson, who followed up his career-high 25 points against UT Rio Grande Valley with his fourth double-double in the last five games.

Rob Gray Jr. had 14 of his game high-tying 22 points in the first half. Gray and Dotson combined for eight of the Cougars’ 13 3-pointers.

Liberty flirted with its first non-conference road win in nearly four years until going cold down the stretch. The Flames missed their final 13 shots — six from 3-point range — and managed only a pair of free throws by John Dawson over the final 11 minutes.

“(Defense) is a huge focus right now,” Dotson said. “We’re trying to play 40 minutes of great defense. We have to start somewhere.”

Wes VanBeck came off the bench for 13 points, and Danrad “Chicken” Knowles added 10.