Coogs overcome sluggish start and defeat Bison

Posted: November 21, 2013 -- 11:40 p.m. CST.

HOUSTON, TX (Hofheinz Pavilion) -- The Houston Cougars defeated the Howard University Bison Thursday night 75-62 in a regional round game of the 2013-'14 Progressive Legends Classic. The Cougars (5-0) trailed the Bison (2-4) for most of the first half.

"I don't know, I thought we came out ready, and they just punched us in the mouth," TaShawn Thomas, Houston junior forward said after the game. "We definitely weren't ready at the start."

The Cougars trailed 19-9; and, they seemed lifeless, listless and stuck in the mud.

James Dickey shouldered the blame for his team's slow start said, "That would be my fault not having them better prepared and ready to go. You have to have an edge. What I told our guys all week is you have to have respect for everybody you play. They look at scores like everybody else. They know who's in this field, and they've seen those scores. Even though we try to guard against it I wanted them to understand that these guys can play. Coach (Kevin) Nickelberry does a great job with them, and they got some momentum. You have to be ready to go. We didn't have that edge early."

Guard Brandon Morris ended the Coogs' scoreless drought by sinking two free throws. Then, redshirt-freshman Danrad "Chicken" Knowles slammed home a dunk; and, the Cougars began to crawl their way into the game. Houston extended the run to 8-0; and, ultimately, the Coogs took a 24-23 lead on a three-point basket by Jherrod Stiggers with 5:26 remaining in the first half.

The Bison regained the lead 28-27; but, Stiggers, once again, nailed a three-point shot to put the Coogs ahead 30-28. The Coogs never trailed the rest of the ball game.

Houston led 34-30 at halftime.

The Cougars amped up their defense in the second half and outscored the Bison 17-7 to lead 51-37 with 10:47 remaining in the game.

"Coaches said we had to play defense, and start the second half better than we started the game," Danuel House said. "They told us we had to win the first five minutes of the half."

The Bison pulled within three points three times in the second half; but, TaShawn Thomas scored a layup; followed by a three-point basket by Danuel House; and a layup from LJ Rose to boost the lead to 10 points.

Despite the Bison getting within 3 points twice early in the second half, the Cougars led by as many as 16 points in the half; and, coasted to the victory.

Danuel House led four Coogs in double-digits with a team-high 23 points. House also pulled down nine rebounds.

TaShawn Thomas grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds to go along with his 11 points and career-high tying seven blocked shots. Jherrod Stiggers chipped in 16 points; and, LJ Rose scored 10 points  and dished out five assists.

The Cougars play Stanford, Monday, November 25, in Brooklyn, NY, inside the Barclays Center in the semifinals of the Progressive Legends Classic. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 pm on ESPN2.

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