It didn’t have to come down to the final seconds. Houston head coach Tom Penders said his team was a few muffed rebounds or drawn charges away from beating what he considers a Top 25 team in Virginia Commonwealth.
Instead the Cougars got called for blocking fouls. Potential momentum swinging possessions were lost due to their inability to pull down rebounds, and Houston was dealt its first defeat of the season at the hands of VCU 73-72 on Thursday morning in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournament.
"The story of the game to me was we missed too many opportunities to draw offensive fouls and pull down rebounds," Penders said. "We’ve got to be stronger when we go after rebounds. Those are possessions that we lose. They don’iacute;t show up in the turnover columns, but they end up going to the other team anyway.
"That’s why we play in these types of tournaments – to see what it is that we need to work on and get better."
Penders didn’iacute;t exactly get the stellar play he expected from his backcourt but his guards more than answered the call. They had to.
In Thursday’s loss, the Cougars’ guards accounted for 97.2 percent of their offense, or 70 points. Penders was particularly impressed with the play of true freshmen Brockeith Pane and Zamal Nixon.
For the second game in a row, Pane bullied his way to a double-digit scoring performance, while also receiving a defensive nod of approval from his coaches and teammates.
He set a career-high with 21 points off the bench by slashing to the lane and drawing contact to go to the foul line. Pane also was given the assignment of defending acclaimed point guard Eric Maynor, whom he held to 1-of-12 shooting for the game.
Maynor did not, however, have a hard time setting his teammates up with shots, as he was credited with six assists.
One Ram who benefited from Maynor’iacute;s ability to distribute the rock was Jamal Shuler. The senior guard scored 20 points and drained a three-point attempt with 1:06 remaining in the game to put VCU (2-0) up 71-70.
Nixon habitually broke down VCU trap attempts, which provided the Cougars (1-1) with much-needed points in a close game. He finished the contest with 11 points and two assists in his collegiate debut.
"Zamal and Brockeith played a great floor game," Penders said.
"VCU’s press last year really bothered us last year. This year we were able to score easy buckets in transition on them. That’s what good teams are supposed to be able to do against the press."
Penders also said that senior guards Robert "Fluff" McKiver (17 points) and Lanny Smith (10 points) had productive games, taking smart shots.
Houston’s premier big men, seniors Marcus Cousin and Tafari Toney couldn’iacute;t get anything done because they were either too busy fouling a VCU player or sitting on the bench because they were in foul trouble. The two combined for two points and six rebounds in 21 minutes on the court.
"We did a lot of good things today out there today," Penders said. "Tafari and Cousin had some foul trouble. A lot of stuff wasn’iacute;t in their control."
