No slow start this time. No offensive droughts, no rebounding problems and no buzzer beaters.
Against Tulsa, the Cougars started and finished well, and the middle wasn’t bad, either.
UH ended its three-game road losing streak with Saturday’s 68-46 victory over Tulsa at Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.
‘I never felt like we were carrying anything (on our backs), except that we got beat by good teams,’ UH head coach Joe Curl said. ‘This is a very talented team in Tulsa, and we played hard enough to get it done.’
The Cougars (13-7, 5-3 Conference USA) have usually fallen behind early during road games this season, but not this time. They used an 8-0 run, capped by a layup by sophomore forward Courtney Taylor, to take a 14-6 lead with 13:57 left in the first half.
‘There was a stretch where we played as pretty a game of basketball as you like to see,’ Curl said. ‘We moved the ball, moved people around. We were unselfish.’
By gaining an early cushion, UH was able to set the game’s tempo and take away some of Tulsa’s energy.
‘That was the key in our pre-game,’ Curl said. ‘We wanted to outwork them, out-hustle them and out-score them. We wanted to set a pace that we were going to play at.’
The Cougars’ lead stayed around 10 points for the rest of the first half, and they carried it into the early stages of the second half. Tulsa (6-14, 2-6 C-USA) trailed 45-35 with 12:44 remaining, but UH used a 13-2 run over the next 5:05 to take a 58-37 lead.
‘We got into a tad bit of foul trouble, so we went to the bench,’ Curl said. ‘(The bench) started pushing us back on top. Once we got the players who were in foul trouble back in there, they came in with a lot more energy. It was perfect timing, not that you want to get anyone in foul trouble.’
Despite facing a great size disadvantage, the Cougars out-rebounded Tulsa 37-34. They also won the points in the paint battle, 42-20.
‘(Sophomore center) Cobilyn (Hill), Courtney and (sophomore forward Brittany) Mason are playing very well right now,’ Curl said. ‘I was very pleased with how hard we played in the block because they were big and long and pushed us around. We got as much out of our kids as we could get out of them.’
The Cougars’ quickness was a huge factor in helping them counter Tulsa’s length. UH also shot a sizzling 50.9 percent from the field while holding Tulsa to 30.4 percent shooting.
‘That was obviously a huge difference,’ Curl said. ‘We’ll take 50 percent every night, but we were fighting and scratching for everything we got.’
Tulsa’s offense had trouble breaking through the excellent interior defense of Mason, who grabbed seven rebounds to go with her five points. The statistics sheet does not reveal how important Mason’s contributions were, but Curl noticed.
‘Brittany Mason is one of main reasons why we’re 5-3 in conference play,’ Curl said. ‘She proves everything as a basketball player.’
Taylor scored 11 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to record her 21st career double-double. Sophomore guard Brittney Scott led the Cougars with a game-high 17 points, bouncing back from a scoreless effort in Thursday’s 59-56 loss to Southern Methodist.
‘She hit two or three big 3s right when we needed them,’ Curl said. ‘Those were huge.’
Due to Tulsa’s size, Hill found herself back in the starting lineup Saturday. She took advantage of the opportunity, scoring 10 points and grabbing seven boards. UH hopes to see more production from Hill as it pushes for a favorable seeding in the C-USA Tournament.
‘She’s not fading away as much in the post,’ Curl said. ‘She’s playing with higher energy. We’re pleased with her progress, but we have to continue to progress.’
UH will end its three-game road trip in Houston against cross-town rival Rice (5-16, 0-8 C-USA) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Tudor Fieldhouse.
