Men's Basketball

Cougars lose another tough one in Florida

The Cougars, who still had a sour taste in their mouths after a heartbreaking 56-54 loss to the UCF Knights, hoped to close out their Florida trip on a good note but fell in the last minutes as they were defeated by the USF Bulls 69-67.

With the Cougars putting up a goose on the scoreboard for the first five minutes of the game, USF jumped out to a 9-2 lead.

However, Houston would battle back and go into the half with a five-point cushion at 41-36. Junior guard LJ Rose was dialed in from long range, dropping 16 of his game-high 25 points in the first half.

In the second half, Houston seemed to be in control of the game, going point-for-point with the Knights, but a 17-3 run by USF gave them an eight-point lead with just under three minutes left to play.

After a quick four points from Rose and two big 3-pointers from Rose and fellow junior guard Jherrod Stiggers, Houston trailed by only one with eight seconds left in regulation.

After a missed free throw, the Cougars raced up the court to find sharp shooter and freshman guard Wes VanBeck in the corner with a good look. However, he couldn’t sink the 3-pointer, and the Cougars’ comeback fell just short at 69-67.

Next up for Houston is a home game against powerhouse Cincinnati (17-8) on Feb. 21.

[email protected]

Leave a Comment