Coogs crush UConn and advance to AAC semifinals

Byron L. Riley, CPA; 832-303-3995; Do you need tax help? IRS Tax help available- Free Consult

POSTED: March 16, 2019 -- 7:59 a.m. CDT

MEMPHIS, TN (FedEx Forum) -- The Houston Cougars crushed the UConn Huskies, 84-45, Friday afternoon in the first quarterfinal game of the 2019 American Athletic Conference Tournament.

Houston's Corey Davis Jr led Houston with 22 points. Davis set the tone early. He opened the game with a three-point basket and was fouled on the attempt. He made the free throw for a 4-0 Houston lead. Houston never trailed in the game.

Houston led 8-0 before UConn scored its first basket. Davis continued his hot start. He scored 9 of Houston's first 13 points as Houston jumped to a 13-5 lead. UConn responded with a 7-0 run, including 5 points from UConn senior guard Jalen Adams, to cut Houston's lead to 18-14.

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Byron L. Riley, CPA; 832-303-3995; Do you need tax help? IRS Tax help available- Free Consult

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After a 5 for 10 shooting start, Houston made 3 of its next 10 shots and led 21-16 before going on an 8-0 run to lead 29-16 with 5:31 remaining in the first half.

Houston led 39-25 at halftime. Davis scored 15 points in the first half on 5 for 10 field goal shooting (4/7 on threes). Houston shot 50% (7 for 14) from three in the first half while limiting UConn to 3/13 three-point shooting and 33.3% (9 for 27) shooting overall.

Houston's defense and Davis' shooting keyed an 11-0 run in the first five minutes of the second half to push the lead to 52-29 with 14:59 remaining in the game.

Houston had three 11-0 runs in the ball game.

With 12:30 left in the game, Houston's starting guard trio of Davis, Armoni Brooks, and Galen Robinson Jr had combined to outscore UConn 45-32. Houston led by 30 (62-32).

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Byron L. Riley, CPA; 832-303-3995; Do you need tax help? IRS Tax help available- Free Consult

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Late in the second half, Houston senior Landon Goesling scored three points to reach 1,000 points in his college career.

Davis scored a team-high 22 points for Houston. Davis is now only four points away from becoming the 48 1,000th-point scorer in Houston history. Robinson scored 16. Freshman Nate Hinton scored 15 off the bench while Armoni Brooks scored 11 points and pulled down a team-high tying 8 rebounds.

The win improved Houston's record to 30-2 this season. This season's team is the fourth team in school history to reach 30 wins in a season.

NEXT:

Top-seed Houston faces 5th-seed Memphis in an AAC semifinal game, at 2 p.m., Saturday, March 16, on ESPN2.

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