Houston head coach Tom Penders wanted to make sure his players had the energy to run the offense and play high-pressure defense at 100 percent. With that in mind, he used a mass-substitution strategy Wednesday night against Southern Methodist to race to a 99-71 win over the Mustangs in Dallas.
The five-at-a-time sub strategy let the Cougars establish the tempo from the tip-off, using a high-pressure, half-court trap to disrupt SMU’s offense, forcing the Mustangs into seven turnovers in the first eight minutes of the contest. On the other end of the ball, guards Kelvin Lewis and Robert "Fluff" McKiver combined for six three-pointers in the first 10 minutes to help the Cougars outscore the Mustangs 27-13.
Lewis finished the game with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and one steal. He was also one of four players to end the night with double-digit scoring numbers.
McKiver went 6-of-12 from three-point territory for a 20-point night, while Tafari Toney had 10 points and six rebounds in just 12 minutes because of his foul trouble. Lewis led the charge defensively, while players such as senior guard Lanny Smith (five assist and two points) contributed on offense without scoring.
"We played like a team tonight," Penders said. "We had 21 assists, we rebounded and we played great pressure defense. We never let up on them. They were worn down and worn out. I’m glad our kids played it the way they did."
Houston would go on countless other runs, getting contributions from everyone. The only players who failed to put points on the board were freshman guard Zamal Nixon and sophomore forward Nick Mosely.
"It was a great team effort," Penders said. "We’ve been kind of saving some of these things for conference play, and I’m glad the kids came out and executed their traps and hustled."
Senior guard Dion Dowell, who normally starts, came off the bench Tuesday to light up SMU for 21 points and nine rebounds.
Penders said Dowell did not start because he wasn’t producing defensively in Houston’s previous games against Massachusetts and Arizona, but said he did see improvement Wednesday.
"Tonight he was so much more active defensively," Penders said. "We just thought, ‘Hey, Dion you can come off the bench until you can show us more defensively.’ Starting doesn’t matter, and if you’re a trooper and a team player, that doesn’t affect you. It only makes you play harder."
In addition to improving to 1-0 in Conference USA, the Cougars now have a 12-3 record on the season, while the Mustangs fell to 6-9 (0-2 C-USA).
