The Cougars ran into another challenge in their quest to reach the NCAA Tournament in Saturday’s game against Conference USA rival Rice, but they were ready for it this time.
The Cougars needed a sparkplug and a closer when Rice pulled within 4 points with six minutes left, and they found both in junior guards DaShaun Williams and Kelvin Lewis.
Williams dropped in a couple of buckets to squelch Rice’s run and Lewis scored 8 consecutive points in the final 2:22 to seal the Cougars’ 71-62 victory before 5,767 fans at Hofheinz Pavilion.
UH improved to 20-6 overall and 9-3 in C-USA, and secured its second 20-win season under head coach Tom Penders. The Cougars also swept their season series against Rice (3-23, 0-13 C-USA) for the first time since the 1995-96 season.
"I’m very happy with the win," Penders said. "Tonight I felt very good about building a 16-point lead, but I warned the kids that (the Owls) have no pressure on them and they will make a run, and they sure enough did. So, we answered the run, and that’s just as critical."
Lewis, who hit six consecutive free throws in the closing 1:03, finished with 22 points, tied for the game-high, on 6-of-9 shooting (4-of-6 from behind the arc) off the bench. It was his first 20-point performance of the season, and it came in the midst of his recovery from the flu.
"The last three days, I’ve been sick," Lewis said. "This was my first day out of the bed, and I was just trying to feed off my off my teammates and just take good looks when I had them, and they fell in."
The Cougars took a 36-26 halftime lead on Robert "Fluff" McKiver’s hot shooting. McKiver, who finished with 18 points, scored 15 points in the first half, and the rest of the Cougars picked up where he left off in the second half. Houston tied its’ largest lead of the game when junior center Marcus Cousin hit two free throws to put them ahead 50-34 with 12:51 left in the game.
But Rice junior guard Rodney Foster (22 points, seven assists) wouldn’t let the Owls go down easily. Foster propelled Rice on a 18-6 run over the next 6:43 by knocking down three consecutive 3-pointers.
Williams (11 points, seven rebounds) provided an answer. With a little more than five minutes remaining, he shot through the lane to grab a rebound off senior guard Marcus Malone’s missed trey, scored on a putback and was fouled. Williams made the ensuing free throw to increase the Cougars’ lead to 59-52. With 3:19 remaining, Williams slashed through the lane and dropped in a layup to put the Cougars further ahead 63-55.
"DaShaun is a great player, and he’s finally getting an opportunity to show what he’s got," Lewis said.
Lewis took care of the rest to give the Cougars their fifth win in the last seven games. The game was Rice’s 16th consecutive loss.
UH kept its faint NCAA Tournament hopes alive. And there’s at least one opponent who thinks they deserve a shot.
"When it’s all said and done, the best compliment I can (give) the University of Houston is that I think it should be an NCAA (Tournament) team, hands down," Rice head coach Willis Wilson said. "I don’t think there should be any debate about it."
