Barnes and Gray, Jr. lead Cougars over Warhawks, 76-64

Posted: November 28, 2015 -- 10:35 pm CDT.

HOUSTON, TX (Hofheinz Pavilion) -- The Houston Cougars won Saturday night with defense and depth. In the 76-64 win over the UL Monroe Warhawks, the Coogs used a 13-0 run to break a 49-49 tie. During the run, the Coogs forced the Warhawks into three turnovers and sophomore guard Rob Gray, Jr. scored 11 points.

Gray, Jr. led the Coogs with 22 points. His 22 points were part of the Coogs' 36 points from their bench.

The Coogs (3-0) trailed the Warhawks (2-2) for nearly 14 minutes of the first half. Poor shooting, poor rebounding, and poor perimeter defense led to a 21-14 deficit at the 10:10 mark of the first half and 23-16 deficit with 8:18 remaining in the first 20 minutes.

After Houston point guard Ronnie Johnson split two free throws, forward Danrad "Chicken" Knowles scored 4 straight points; then, LeRon Barnes converted a lay-up to tie game at 23.

Minutes later, Barnes swished two three-point baskets (the Coogs' only two made three-pointers in the first half). The first three gave the Coogs a 29-28 lead (first of the game) while the second three-pointer put the Coogs ahead 33-32 with 37 seconds left in the opening half.

"LeRon Barnes was terrific tonight. LeRon Barnes was LeRon Barnes," head coach Kelvin Sampson said. "He’s never going to score very high on the wow-meter but he’s a winner. I’ve been around this game a long time, and there’s a lot of guys that put a lot of significance on making great plays. Basketball’s not a game of great plays. It’s a game of eliminating mistakes, and LeRon doesn’t make many mistakes. That’s what makes him very valuable for us."

Houston led 35-32 at halftime - after freshman point guard Galen Robinson, Jr. drained a jumper to beat the halftime buzzer.

The Coogs scored the first five points of the second half to lead 40-32; but, the Warhawks responded with a 9-2 run to slice the Coogs' lead to 42-41 with 15:08.

The game was close for a few minutes and, with the scored tied at 49, Rob Gray, Jr. caught fire.

Gray, Jr. drained consecutive three-point shots before sinking a step-back jump shot for a personal 8-0 run in 84 seconds. Galen Robinson, Jr. scored in transition before Gray, Jr. made his third-consecutive three-point bucket to cap off the Coogs' 13-0 run which lasted slightly less than three minutes.

"It always feels great to make shots," Gray, Jr. acknowledged. "It’s something that I’ve practiced a lot and put a lot of time into with the coaching staff. It feels good for the work to pay off, but it was kind of expected."

"As you get to see Rob Gray more and more you’ll realize what we know. He’s our best scorer. He was our leading scorer in those four games we played in China over the summer. He’s our leading scorer in practice every day, but he’s going to get better too. He can make baskets, but he’s also a good passer and a good ball handler. So I expect Rob to get better."

The Warhawks got no closer than 9 points the final 8 minutes of the ball game.

In addition to Gray, Jr.'s team-high 22 points, Barnes added 15 points and 11 boards in 30 minutes of game action. Point guard Ronnie Johnson chipped in 13 points, six boards, and four steals.

The Coogs' next game is Monday, November 30, versus Texas Rio Grande Valley. Tip is set for 7 p.m. inside Hofheinz Pavilion.

CLICK HERE for The HRR's write-ups of Coogs' men's hoops games.