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Houston Outguns WVU to Extend Home Winning Streak

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WVU Basketball against Houston
Image credit to WVU Athletics

Houston sustained its hot start while WVU fizzled out as the Cougars extended their home winning streak to 32 games with a 70-54 win over the Mountaineers Wednesday.

Both teams started red-hot on offense as No. 10 Houston (13-3, 5-0 Big 12) started 7-9 from the floor and West Virginia (12-4, 3-2) began 7-11. At that point, the game was tied 18-18 midway through the first half.ย 

WVU thrice from beyond the arc early on, making four of its first five three-pointers. Javon Small made three in the first six minutes for an early nine points. Houston started playing more aggressive defense on Small, double-teaming him as soon as he crossed half-court, and WVUโ€™s offense couldnโ€™t find a second option. The Mountaineers missed eight of its final 11 shots in the first half, including five straight three-pointers.

Houston, meanwhile, continued to succeed by going to either Emanuel Sharp or Jโ€™Wan Roberts. Sharp scored 12 first-half points with three three-pointers while Roberts was unstoppable inside, shooting 8-10 to score 17 points. Houston put together a 20-3 run at one point in the first half and led 40-27 at the break.

The Mountaineers came out with renewed energy in the second half, scoring the first eight points to immediately cut Houstonโ€™s lead to just five points, 40-35. Three straight three-pointers by L.J. Cryer briefly rebuilt the Cougarsโ€™ 13-point advantage, but a personnel 12-2 run by Amani Hansberry cut the lead all the way down to three, 51-48.

Hansberry picked up two early fouls and did not score in the first half, but had a three-minute stretch where he made three three-pointers and converted an and-one all on four consecutive possessions.

That was the last push WVU would make, however, as the Mountaineers fell into yet another second-half scoring drought that allowed a 16-1 scoring run by the Cougars to put the game away. West Virginia did not score for six minutes and did not make a field goal for nearly eight minutes.

Roberts led all scorers with 22 points while Cryer finished with 18 and Sharp had 14. Houston held advantages in points off turnovers (25-9) and points in the paint (24-16).

Hansberry paced West Virginia with 16 points as Small finished with just 13 after his hot start. Freshman point guard KJ Tenner made his return to the lineup after missing the last two games with an injury.ย 

WVU returns home to host No. 3 Iowa State in the Coliseum Saturday at 5 p.m.

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