Aubrey Coleman, pictured against Southern Miss, was the driving force in the Cougars’ 74-72 win over Western Kentucky. The nation’s leading scorer poured in a game-high 29 points to raise his average to 26 points per game. | Zuhair Siddiqui/The Daily Cougar
After suffering a last-second loss to Southern Miss on Saturday, the Cougars staged their own late drama in a 74-72 win over Western Kentucky Tuesday night at Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky.
UH (12-11) caught a break, with the score tied at 72, when Adam Brown was fouled with 0.5 seconds remaining after grabbing the rebound from Aubrey Coleman’s missed 3-pointer. As the officials reviewed the sequence, Hilltoppers coach Ken McDonald was assessed a technical foul, and Kelvin Lewis sank both free throws to give the Cougars a 74-72 advantage.
Brown missed the front end of a 1-and-1, giving Western Kentucky (13-12) one last shot, albeit a long one. Needing to go the length of the court with 0.5 seconds left, the Hilltoppers’ desperation heave went for naught, and the Cougars escaped with their second win over Western Kentucky in two seasons.
“We wanted to have the ball in Aubrey’s hands. He is our best player,” UH head coach Tom Penders said of the final sequence. “When Adam grabbed the ball, that guy definitely reached in, grabbed him and tried to rip the ball.”
A stunned Western Kentucky crowd showered the court with objects as the Cougars went to the locker room.
Penders knew had the tables been turned, it could have been damaging to the team’s psyche.
“It’s huge,” Penders said of the win. “We’ve had so many bad breaks and losses. If we had another one tonight, I would have had to call on Dr. Phil. I’m so proud of how our kids stayed together.”
On the previous possession, Western Kentucky’s A.J. Slaughter stole an errant pass from Brown and converted a fast-break layup to tie the game at 72. The Cougars put the ball in Coleman’s hand with 22 seconds left.
Despite Coleman’s miss, Penders said he was pleased with the senior’s play.
“Aubrey’s Aubrey. Sometimes he’s just Superman out there, and he was tonight,” Penders said. “He passed the ball off when he had to, (and) he went in strong. I wouldn’t trade him for any player in college basketball.”
Coleman, the nation’s leading scorer, finished with a game-high 29 points, including four of the team’s final six, to go with 11 rebounds and three steals. He hit consecutive jumpers to give UH a 72-68 lead with 1:05 left.
Before the frantic finish, the Hilltoppers used a 25-18 rebounding advantage and a 9-4 run to close the first half to take a 40-33 lead at the break.
The Cougars countered with a 9-2 run out of the break, capped by Coleman’s three-point play to tie the game at 42 with 15:19 remaining.
The Hilltoppers received an instant boost off their bench from Sergio Kerusch, who scored seven consecutive points to give Western Kentucky a 49-46 lead with 13:28 remaining.
UH again countered with its torrid shooting (50 percent in the second half) and took a 60-53 lead — its largest of the game — led by Brown’s seven points off the bench.
The Hilltoppers took a 64-63 lead after an 11-3 run with just under five minutes to play, but Lewis nailed an open trey off a Coleman kickout pass to give Houston a 66-64 lead.
Cougars forward Maurice McNeill finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, and guard Kelvin Lewis chipped in with 11 points.
UH returns home to take on SMU at 4 p.m. Saturday.
