Houston thumps Portland 81-56 in first game of Diamond Head Classic

POSTED: December 23, 2019 -- 7:18 a.m. CT

HONOLULU, HI (Stan Sheriff Center) -- The Houston Cougars thumped the Portland Pilots 81-56 Sunday afternoon (Central Time) in the first game of the 2019 Diamond Head Classic held in Honolulu, Hawai`i. (The game tipped at 10 a.m. in Hawai`i.)

Houston utilized balanced scoring, defense and rebounding to win the ball game. Eleven Coogs played. Ten Coogs scored.

Quentin Grimes scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Coogs. Houston's lone senior on this year's team, center Chris Harris Jr, scored 13 points while junior forward Fabian White Jr scored 10 points. Redshirt-freshman guard Caleb Mills and sophomore guard Nate Hinton each scored 9 points while junior guard DeJon Jarreau chipped in 7 points.

Hinton also had 10 rebounds. Hinton was one point away from his sixth double-double this season.

Grimes scored all 18 of his points in an 11-minute span in the second half. Houston led 47-30 when Grimes stole the ball and raced down the court and scored a layup, with 14:11 on the game clock, for his first two points of the game. Grimes' layup put Houston ahead 49-30.

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Houston led 58-39 when Grimes knocked down a three-point shot. Grimes added a turnaround jumper then another layup before draining three consecutive three-point shots to cap Houston's scoring (and his) with 3:24 remaining in the game. Houston led 81-51 at that point and cruised to the victory.

After Houston's previous game, Thursday night versus UTEP, Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson mentioned to the media Grimes was dealing with some leg issues.

"Quentin has been really bothered by an injury. It's really affecting his play, he's been in and out of practice a lot. He had an MRI and a CAT scan yesterday morning. He’s got two or three different issues going on, one in his lower leg, one in on the bottom of his foot. Usually if it's the bottom of the foot, it tells you it might be plantar fasciitis. I'm not sure if that's it, but he's been struggling in practice. When he struggles, I always tell him to get out. I don't expect anyone to play with an injury, I expect them to play with pain. Some kids have a high opinion of pain, some kids have a low opinion of pain."

Grimes showed no lingering issues in the second half Sunday afternoon.

Houston shot 50 percent (32 for 64) from the floor and dominated the Pilots in numerous categories: 40-27 rebounding edge; 13-4 second-chance points; 38-18 points in the paint; 14-7 fastbreak points; 12-5 in steals; and 19-11 in assists.

Houston improves to 8-3 this season while Portland is now 8-5 after the loss.

Houston's next game is Monday, December 23, at 6 p.m., on ESPN2, versus the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, in Day 2 of the Diamond Head Classic. Tech defeated Boise State 74-60 in the second game of the event.

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