Early in the second half of UH’s matchup with TCU on Wednesday, Cougars associate head coach Melvin Haralson told his players to put the game away.
Aubrey Coleman followed orders.
The senior guard scored 11 of his game-high 33 points in the first five minutes after halftime, leading UH on a 15-5 run that allowed it to cruise to a 105-81 win over TCU at Hofheinz Pavilion. That scoring surge came during a stretch in which UH outscored the Horned Frogs 39-19 to take a 67-47 lead with 15:50 left.
Head coach Tom Penders said it was simply business as usual for Coleman.
‘He’s one of those guys, at halftime, who might have only two or four points,’ Penders said. ‘But in five minutes, he can put 20 on you.’
Before Coleman got going, Kelvin Lewis was the Cougars’ main scoring threat. The senior guard paced’ his team’s 52-point first half’ by putting up 20′ of his 25 points before the break. Fifteen of those 20 points came’ from beyond the arc, as’ Lewis’ connected on five of 10 3-point attempts.’ ‘
Lewis and Coleman received several open looks at the basket in transition, which were created by an opportunistic UH (7-3)’ defense that used a full-court press to force TCU (6-6) to commit 13 first-half turnovers. The Cougars also recorded 12 steals, with eight coming before halftime.
Lewis hopes Penders continues to utilize pressure defense to force opponents to play at a speedy pace.
‘Once we get into a full-court press ‘hellip; everybody seems to have more fun,’ Lewis said. ‘I would love to do it (more).’
Hot shooting also helped UH push the game’s tempo, as it shot 56.5 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from 3-point range. Coleman and Lewis weren’t the only ones on fire, as’ Maurice McNeil (10 points) and Adam Brown’ (21′ points)’ scored in double figures.
‘It was a team win,’ Penders said. ‘We got great performances.’
The Horned Frogs, who were led by Ronnie Moss’ 23 points, dominated the boards (42-28 rebounding advantage), but’ had no answer for’ UH’s highest scoring’ output against them’ since Feb. 1977.
In the first half, UH jumped out to a 14-10 lead before TCU went on a 10-2 run, capped by a Keion Mitchem trey, to gain a 20-16 advantage with 12:18 left before halftime.
Then, the Cougars took control for good.
UH scored 11 of the game’s next 15 points over the next 3:30, taking a 27-24 lead on a Maurice McNeil free throw with 8:49 remaining before the break.
The Horned Frogs tied the contest at 28 with 7:52 left in the first, but the Cougars closed the half on a 24-12 run to enter the locker room up 52-40.
UH will conclude’ its month-long homestand when’ it welcomes Louisiana Tech to Hofheinz Pavilion at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Penders said he is satisfied with his team’s progress this season, but understands that there are several areas that need improvement.
‘We feel like we have a lot of growth room,’ Penders said. ‘We’re fortunate that we’re 7-3 at this point.’
