Cougars come up with some payback
Sasser nets 26 as team avenges loss for sole possession of first place
The Houston Cougars made sure not to wait until the final seconds to decide the outcome of Wednesday night’s game against Tulsa.
Marcus Sasser had 26 points —— 18 in the first half — to help the eighth-ranked Cougars get payback for their only loss of the season and beat the Golden Hurricane 86-59 at Fertitta Center.
Quentin Grimes had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists for UH, which won its fifth in a row since a 65-64 loss to Tulsa on Dec. 29.
That game was decided on a pair of free throws by Brandon Rachal with onetenth of a second remaining.
The rematch was decided much earlier.
“We were fired up,” said true freshman guard Tramon Mark, who had 11 points and six rebounds off the bench.
Sasser, a sophomore guard, had 13 points during a 23-3 run early in the first half. The Cougars led by as many as 24 points in the first half, shot 48.6 percent and led 45-19 at halftime.
All that came against a Tulsa team that entered the game seventh nationally in field-goal defense (37.4 percent) and allowing only 60.9 points per game.
UH improved to 12-1 overall and 7-1 in the American Athletic Conference. The Cougars are in sole possession of first place in the AAC, 1½ games ahead of idle Wichita State.
Sasser flirted with a career-high for the second time in 11 days, going 8-of-15 from the floor, including 6of-12 from 3-point range. His 26 points were the most scored by an opponent against the Golden Hurricane this season.
Sasser and Grimes, UH’s top two scorers, combined for 45 points and 10 3-pointers on 13-of-27 shooting. Both players exited the game with 9:48 remaining as coach Kelvin Sampson went to his bench. Forward Justin Gorham had 11 rebounds for the Cougars.
In the first meeting, UH, which had just moved into the top-5 in the national polls, shot a season-worst 19 percent from 3-point range, missed 11 free throws and played “like we were fighting uphill” all game, Sampson said at the time.
“It’s always good to come home and get our revenge,” said redshirt freshman forward J’Wan Roberts, who had four points and seven rebounds. “The first time we played them they got whatever they wanted. We weren’t really aggressive. We didn’t come to fight. Being at home and everybody hyping us up, we got that juice to go at them and make sure we didn’t lose two in a row.”
Tied at 6 in the opening minutes, the Cougars put the game away with a 23-3 run, ignited by back-to-back buckets by DeJon Jarreau and followed by a drive in the lane and 3-pointer by Sasser. Sasser completed the Cougars’ dominant 7½minute run with a shot off the glass and another 3pointer for a 29-9 lead.
“The first couple of minutes of the game they set the tone,” Tulsa coach Frank Haith said. “They were tougher, more physical, played faster and it showed … they kicked our butts.”
Rachal, the hero for Tulsa in the first meeting, had 18 points. He scored nine consecutive points to begin the second half, as the Golden Hurricane got within 17 points.
That’s as close as Tulsa (8-5, 5-3 AAC) would get.
“As time goes by you used be getting better,” Sampson said. “During basketball season your team is a lot like an elevator. You’re either going up or you’re going down, but you’re never standing still,” Sampson said. “I think one of the things our teams have been known for forever is we get better as the season goes on.”