Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
HOUSTON –Milos Uzan scored 17 points, Emanuel Sharp added 13 and seventh-ranked Houston used suffocating defense to roll past West Virginia 77-48 Tuesday night at the Fertitta Center.
The Cougars (16-1, 4-0 Big 12) won their 10th straight game, their 14th in a row at home and their 35th consecutive victory against an unranked opponent. Houston also improved to 8-1 in Quad 1 and 2 games this season.
The Cougars never trailed, holding the Mountaineers (11-6, 2-2) to just two field goals over a 15-minute stretch to open the game. Houston opened a 28-5 lead with about five minutes left in the first half on two free throws by Chase McCarty. Chris Cenac Jr. scored seven points during the run, while Uzan and Sharp added six apiece as WVU made just 2 of 16 over that span.
Uzan went 5 of 9 from 3-point range for his first double-figure scoring performance since scoring 18 at Cincinnati on Jan. 3. Sharp finished 5 of 13 from the field, including 3 of 9 from beyond the arc. Joseph Tugler added 10 points and six rebounds, while Kingston Flemings chipped in 10 points and seven assists.
The Cougars shot 43 percent from the field and went 11 of 35 from 3-point range, forced 15 turnovers and held a 17-8 advantage in points off turnovers. Houston also outrebounded WVU 38-29 and made six more free throws than the Mountaineers attempted.
WVU’s best offensive stretch came early in the second half when Brenen Lorient and Treysen Eaglestaff knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers and Lorient followed with a layup to cut the deficit to 38-27. The Cougars responded with an eight-point run to push the lead back to 19, and it eventually ballooned to 31 with seven minutes remaining.
A pair of baskets by Amir Jenkins, sandwiched around three free throws from Honor Huff, accounted for the Mountaineers’ other brief spurt in the second half.
D.J. Thomas led WVU with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Huff added 13 points but was 2 of 9 from beyond the arc. Outside of Thomas, the Mountaineers struggled offensively, finishing at 37 percent from the floor and 9 of 25 from 3-point distance.
WVU fell to 1-2 against ranked teams this season and dropped to 1-4 in Quad 1 games, missing an opportunity to bolster its NCAA Tournament resume.
“When you come in here to beat a team like this, you’ve got to have special performances from multiple people and we didn’t get that tonight,” Mountaineer head coach Ross Hodge said. “You’ve got to come in here and get off to a good start,” Hodge observed. “Ironically, we had a couple looks early and you get to the foul line and we miss both. You turn the corner a couple times and have layups at the basket when you did have them a little spread out and we kind of short-armed it and then you do start feeling the squeeze.
“You start playing a little faster and they are an elite defense and an elite team,” Hodge added. “That’s what elite defenses do, they make it so hard on you that when you do finally get an open shot, you’re rushing it a little bit.”
Hodge praised Thomas’ performance in his return to Texas.
“He saved us in the first half, honestly, and both of his back cuts he went up and dunked it, and that’s what you’ve got to do in here,” he said. “You can’t be in here and flip balls at the basket because they are so physical around the rim and they have such great length. When you do get it close to the basket, you better dunk it and that was good to see that from him.”
WVU returns home to host Colorado on Saturday in a 6 p.m. game televised nationally on CBSSN.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
