UH guard Aubrey Coleman scored 26 points and pulled down eight rebounds in Friday’s 89-77 loss to Maryland, the final game of his collegiate career. He finished the season with a scoring average of 25.6 points per game. | Jaclyn Borowski/The Diamondback
For UH the joyous NCAA Tournament music has stopped and the dance is officially over.
After Adam Brown’s miraculous first-half buzzer beater drew them within two points, the Cougars seemed to have the momentum to shock the world. But after immediately evening the score to start the second half, it was a free fall to an 89-77 loss to the Maryland Terrapins at Spokane Arena in Spokane, Wash.
Head coach Tom Penders said that despite the jubilation in the locker room at halftime, the Cougars went out with a business-first mentality in the second half.
“I called a timeout when we got down by eight points to stop their momentum, but then we hit a couple of threes, including Adam’s shot and we got it to 39-37 at the half,” Penders said. “For halftime, I let the guys talk and get rid of the excitement of Adam’s shot. We wanted to switch to man-to-man defense and play a bigger lineup but it didn’t really work. Maryland did a good job of running their offense.
“I never felt like we were out of the game but we went cold at the foul line. We got it down to six at one point but we missed more free throws. We didn’t make our fair share of free throws.”
Aubrey Coleman, the nation’s leading scorer for the regular season, played his last game for UH in style, finishing with a game-high 26 points and eight rebounds. Fellow senior Kelvin Lewis also went out with a bang, totaling 24 points in a losing cause. Both players will now look to get to the professional level.
“I think Aubrey was clearly the best player on the floor,” Penders said. “He and Kelvin played great, it’s just a shame he missed six free throws. After the game I just told him how fast it all went by for him. He’s the reason we turned a corner at UH. What he and the team accomplished is historical. We’re going to have a banner up in Hofeinz now that says we’re the C-USA champions.”
Now that the Cougars are looking forward to next year, the jury is still out on whether Penders will remain as UH’s coach.
Media outlets reported Sunday that Penders would resign today.
“I’m too young to retire,” Penders said Saturday. “I never envisioned coaching past the age of 50, but if I’m having fun and I’m enjoying teaching then I’ll keep going. I look at myself as a teacher, not some figurehead. But as long as UH wants me to coach, I’ll be the coach.”
It may be advantageous for UH for him to return considering incoming 7-3 center Marial Dahl based his decision to sign with the Cougars on Penders’ experience in coaching players from Africa.
“He’s a great shot blocker from the Sudan,” Penders said. “He could have gone to FSU or Florida but he chose to come here because of my experience coaching players from Africa.
“I think the exposure we got from the tournament will also make players want to come here to play and there are already a lot of players out there that like the way we play, so there’s a lot to look forward to here.”
