Houston may not have the bragging rights to say they were the top team at the O’Reilly ESPNU Puerto Rico Tip-Off, but after ending the weekend 2-1, it left San Juan, Puerto Rico with a better understanding of its personnel and their capabilities.
Head coach Tom Penders saw consistent play on both sides of the ball from senior guards Dion Dowell and Robert McKiver. Freshmen point guards Brockeith Pane and Zamal Nixon gave the Cougars useful minutes off the bench and even shaped the outcome of games, while senior Lanny Smith did his thing as the floor general and got his legs back under him.
"I came down here and wanted to be at least 2-1, Penders said. "You always want to win the championship, but had a heart breaking loss to a very tough team (Virginia Commonwealth). I think we improved while we were down here. We developed an identity and we got some important minutes for key people.
"Now we have some games coming up where I think some other guys who haven’t had opportunities to get some playing time, because I don’t want a team that’s eight men deep. I want to be able to go 11 or 12 men deep"
The Cougars went out with a bang Sunday against Charleston in the tournament’s game for fourth place. Senior guard Robert "Fluff" McKiver put together a boosting performance as he scored a career high 37 points in Houston’s 84-69 win and helped the Cougars in improving to 3-1 on the season.
McKiver also tied a school record set by himself last season against Texas Southern by hitting nine three-point shots in a game.
Penders said he was not only impressed with McKiver’s offensive output Saturday, but his defensive play was also something to applaud. Smith made it a point to find a red-hot McKiver throughout the game, which more than compensated for his scoreless night.
"I thought Lanny Smith gave us an excellent floor game," Penders said. "He played great defense. He had eight assist and no turnovers and he went to McKiver time after time after time."
The Cougars found themselves in the position to play Charleston Sunday for fourth place because of their win over Marist on Friday. Pane, who scored 21 points in Houston’s one-point loss to VCU on Thursday, scored 15 against Marist in Houston’s 64-58 win.
Pane and McKiver combined for 32 points in Houston’s victory, and the freshman even converted a late three-point attempt to secure the lead and win for the Cougars.
