Coogs upset 17th-ranked UConn, 75-71

Posted: December 31, 2013 -- 11:58pm CST.

HOUSTON, TX (Hofheinz Pavilion) -- The Houston Cougars played their best first half of the season; then, they played a shaky second half. However, to their credit, the Coogs came up big in the final minutes and defeated the 17th-ranked Connecticut Huskies, 75-71, in front of a raucous crowd of 4,035 fans.

"Really proud of our guys," said head coach James Dickey. "We beat an outstanding basketball team. They’re ranked anywhere from 15 to 17, but they’re top 10.  I’m so proud of our team. We have great respect for their program, players and coaches. It’s very difficult to take over for a legend like coach (Jim) Calhoun. (Kevin Ollie) He’s done a remarkable job, and he’s got two great guards. They were sensational tonight. But having said that we’ve got good players, and our guys played hard. They played as a team, and they competed. We didn’t play great for a full 40 minutes, but the first half was as well as we’ve played in a long time. We talked the entire portion of halftime about that being the most insignificant stat there is: the halftime score. We knew they would make a run, but we didn’t want them to make a run to let them take the go-ahead three. Then down the stretch we had a lot of guys make plays. It took a total team effort. Really proud of our guys. We beat an outstanding team. I was pleased with the fan support that we had. Happy that we’re 1-0 in the league.”

The Coogs jumped to a 10-2 lead early and forced the Huskies to call a quick timeout; but, Houston (9-5 overall, 1-0 in the American Athletic Conference) was just getting warmed up.

The Coogs made 8 of their first 13 field goals to lead 20-10. Then, they doubled up the Huskies 34-17 with 13 for 20 shooting. With 2:24 left in the first half, Houston's lead grew to 21 points (45-24) as freshman point guard Jaaron Simmons sank two free throws to give him 9 points in 13 minutes off the bench.

Houston took a 46-28 lead into halftime in front of a stunned crowd. The Coogs shot 59.3% (16 for 27 from the floor overall) including 62.5% (5 for 8) on three-point shots. Heck, they even shot 81.8% (9 for 11 from the foul line).

Meanwhile, the Coogs' defense was stellar as they limited the Huskies to 30.8% (8 for 26 shooting).

Then, the second half began and the Huskies awakened from their slumber -- especially UConn guard Shabazz Napier. Napier scored just two first half points; but, he erupted for 14 points in 6 plus minutes to bring the Huskies within 49-47 with 13:13 on the clock.

Niels Giffey converted a steal into a breakaway dunk to tie the game at 49. In less than eight minutes, the Coogs' 18-point halftime lead was completely gone.

Houston's TaShawn Thomas and Danrad Knowles each scored baskets to end the Coogs' ice cold 1 for 12 second half start.

The Coogs' lead vacillated between one and four points for five minutes until Napier tied the game at 59 with two made free throws.

The next two minutes, Knowles and Napier engaged in a brief "Anything you can do, I can do" exchange: Knowles dunked to put Houston up 61-59; but, Napier nailed a jumper to the game at 61; but, Knowles swished a three-point to put the Coogs' ahead three. However, Napier tied the game with a three-point bucket of his own.

TaShawn Thomas missed a jumper; and, UConn's DeAndre Daniels sank a three-point shot to give the Huskies a 67-64 lead (their first lead of the game) with 3:41 remaining.

After a 30-second timeout, Houston's Jherrod Stiggers scored a layup. Napier made another jump shot for a 69-66 UConn lead.

Thomas and Napier each made two free throws; therefore, with 1:42 left in the game, the Coogs trailed the Huskies 71-68.

With the shot clock winding down, Stiggers rattled in a three-pointer to tie the game.

Next, Napier missed a long three-point shot; and, Knowles rebounded the missed shot with 40 seconds on the game clock. After a full timeout, Thomas attacked the basket and drew the fifth foul on UConn's Tyler Olander.

Napier finished the game with a game-high 27 points -- 25 came in the second half.

With 9 seconds left in the game, Thomas sank both free throws for a 73-71 Houston lead.

"Those were the biggest free throws of my life, because one, I couldn’t see," Thomas said after the game. "I got hit in the eye two plays before, and two if I made them it was going to put us in a good place. They called a timeout right before I went to the line, and it helped me out because I was able to recover. Jherrod (Stiggers) just kept telling me I better get it right and make the last two free throws.”

Napier raced up the court; but, Thomas and Knowles challenged the shot. Thomas was credited for the block; and, Tione Womack grabbed the rebound with 2.3 seconds on the clock.

Womack made both free throws -- his only two points of the game -- and; after Napier missed a long three-point shot attempt, the Coogs celebrated the 75-71 upset victory.

Thomas finished the game with 23 points, eight rebounds, two assists and the huge blocked shot.

After the game, Connecticut head coach Kevin Ollie said of Thomas: "They did a disservice to him because he’s not a second-team player (American Athletic Conference preseason selections). He’s a first team in my book. He’s absolutely a great player. He’s hungry. He wants the basketball. Never complains, and just goes out there and plays hard. I want players like that.”

Jherrod Stiggers scored 17 points (5 for 8 field goals, 3 for 5 from three) in 24 minutes off the bench. Knowles (6 for 10 field goals) added 13 points and nine boards in 27 minutes.

The Cougars head to the road for the second conference game in the new American Athletic Conference. Houston faces USF on Saturday, January 4, with a 3 p.m. CST tip-off.

"We’re going to build on it. What I told the guys tonight is they deserve the opportunity to enjoy it," Dickey said.. "We’re going to enjoy it for 24 hours, but once we come back to work we have to put that behind us. We’ll build on the good things that we did, we’ll correct our mistakes, and then we have to get ready for South Florida.”

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