Breaon Brady's career-high 21 and Armoni Brooks' 14 leads Coogs in win over Temple

Posted: December 30, 2017 -- 9:52 pm CST.

HOUSTON, TX (H&PE Arena) -- The Houston Cougars did just enough down the stretch to eke out a hard fought 76-73 victory over the Temple Owls Saturday afternoon / evening. The Coogs led 70-59 with 2:24 left in the ball game; but, missed free throws, a missed layup, and Temple's hot shooting from the three-point line, cut the lead to one point (74-73) with 9 seconds on the clock. Houston senior guard Rob Gray made two free throws; and Temple's Shizz Alston Jr missed a three-point shot at the buzzer to wrap up the win for the Coogs.

Final stats of Houston Cougars' 76-73 win over the Temple Owls

"We knew going into the game we were going to get Temple’s best shot," said Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson after the game. "They (Temple) are the same team who handed Auburn their first loss and beat Clemson. We responded well, even without Devin, who had two quick fouls and had to sit out the rest of the half. We practiced with him in our starting unit all week, so not having him in there made it tougher on the other guys at times.

"We made some defensive adjustments during halftime and were able to get the ball on the other side of the court during the second half. Once we got the ball moving from side to side we opened up their defense and found some three point opportunities. Our execution after timeouts and on baseline out of bounds plays was outstanding."

The first half was close the entire 20 minutes: neither team led by more than 4 points and featured 4 ties and 12 lead changes. Both teams shot 50 percent from the floor: Coogs made 15 of 30 field goals while the Owls made 14 of 28 field goal attempts.

Houston led 30-29 with 2:35 remaining in the opening half when sophomore big man Chris Harris Jr scored a layup; but, the Owls finished the half with a 7-2 run and led 36-32 at halftime.

Houston's Breaon Brady scored 13 points in the first half on 6 for 7 field goal shooting. Brady went to work in the paint; and produced buckets in only 10 minutes of game action.

Temple scored the first two points in the second half; but, Brady sank four free throws during a 9-0 Houston run to put the Coogs ahead 41-38. Temple's Josh Brown sank a jumper; but, Houston responded with 11 straight points for a 52-40 lead with 12:47 on the clock.

Alston Jr sank another three-point shot for the Owls to trim Houston's lead to 9; but, once again, Breaon Brady went to work in the paint with 4 quick points. Unfortunately, for Brady (and Coogs' fans), after Brady scored the second basket his left foot landed on the defender's foot and Brady rolled his ankle. Brady lay on the court, in pain, for a few minutes before being helped to the locker room.

Brady scored a career-high 21 points (8 for 9 field goals) before he left the game.

Houston led 56-43 when Brady left the ball game at the 9:26 mark of the game.

Sampson said, "It was a sprained ankle. He has a big knot on the side of his ankle and it’s swollen. He will be alright."

After the game, Brady said, "I feel better than what the injury looked like. It hurt a lot when it happened, but I feel better and I’m happy we got the win tonight. I looking forward to getting back to practice. The only thing that I am really focused on right now is the Wichita State game."

Houston's lead fluctuated between 11 and 13 points 2 minutes before Houston sophomore guard Armoni Brooks sailed through the air for a two-hand put back slam dunk to put Houston ahead 15 points (64-49) with 6:19 remaining in the ball game.

"When Devin shot it, I looked at it and thought it was a little long," Brooks said describing the putback dunk. "Coach (Sampson) preaches offensive rebounding every day at practice and I just so happened to get the dunk this time. My intention was only to secure the ball, but when I jumped up I was able to get both hands on it and told myself I might as well try to put it back up."

Temple's Quinton Rose sank a three-point shot; and, after a Houston turnover, Temple freshman Nate Pierre-Louis converted a three-point play to trim Houston's lead to 9 points (64-55) with 4:51 on the clock.

Temple made 5 consecutive field goals; but, Houston freshman forward Fabian White Jr. sank three consecutive baskets to keep the Owls at arms' length. White Jr. last's basket put the Coogs up 70-59.

Temple continued its comeback with 4 for 4 free throw shooting, two three-point buckets, and a layup while the Coogs missed a layup, missed the first free throw of a 1-and-1 as well as splitting free throws twice.

After the game, Coach Sampson said, "I’m glad the game came down to the wire at the end because we haven’t had a close game. There were a lot of teachable moments in the game. When our guys are missing free throws and have a dry spell from the field, and they make three pointers, it’s easy to catch up. Armoni is a great free throw shooter, but he needed to make both of his shots. Armoni makes one out of two, Devin makes one out of two, and Galen misses two, that’s four missed free throws. We weren’t finishing well, but those are great teachable moments. It’s positive because we can break down the film and get better from a game like this."

With the win, the Cougars improved to 12-2 overall and 2-0 in The American, while Temple fell to 7-6 and 0-2 in the league.

Houston's next game is Thursday, January 4, against No. 8/10 Wichita State at 6 p.m., in Wichita, KS. The game will air on ESPN.

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