Men's Basketball

Cougars prep for Green Wave

Senior point guard Zamal Nixon and the Cougars are on the outside looking in in the Conference USA standings, but one win in their next two games will guarantee them not having the No. 12 seed in the C-USA tournament. | Aaron Cisneros/The Daily Cougar

The season is winding down for the Cougars, and the rough patch they encountered in late January has lingered longer than they had hoped.

UH (12-15, 4-10 Conference USA) has two games to right its ship before the C-USA Championship tournament on March 9 in El Paso.

“We want to try to build as much momentum in these last few games as we can at Tulane and then at home against Rice,” head coach James Dickey said. “Then get ready to go to conference and then prepare to play one game, but just don’t look past that first game.

“For us, we can’t look ahead at all. We just have to concentrate on that next game. You can’t think about who we might play.”

After Saturday’s 68-55 loss to UAB, the Cougars have lost their last four contests. The last time UH won was on Feb. 12 when they handled Tulane 79-68 at home.

The Green Wave (12-15, 2-10) are losers of 12 straight and will be just as hungry as the Cougars to get off the snide.

Victory not a guarantee

Tulane once held an eight-point lead the last time the teams met, so the Cougars will not be expecting a pushover win.

Dickey said that the Green Wave’s jump-shooting ability and the home-court advantage are causes for concern.

“They shoot the three so well, they hit 14 on us here,” Dickey said. “Defending the 3-point shot and in the last game, they were really driving it. Any time you go on the road you have to defend, rebound and execute.

“They’ll be at home, and I’m sure they’ll play with a lot of confidence there,” Dickey said.

The Cougars are 13-12 against Tulane all-time, but are a dismal 2-10 in away games this season. The last road victory for UH was Jan. 15 at SMU.

The game tips off at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Fogelman Arena in New Orleans.

UH returns to town Saturday for a rematch with Rice (12-16, 4-10) at Hofheinz Pavilion.

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