After a slow first half, the Cougars revved up the offense in the second to beat Memphis 81-68 Sunday at Hofheinz Pavilion in a nationally-televised contest.
The Cougars are off to their best start ever in Conference USA play. The win keeps the Cougars (14-4, 5-0 C-USA) at number one in the conference standings, and they remain the only undefeated team in the league.
“They came to play us real hard,” Brittney Scott said. “We have a target on our back now being number one.”
The Cougars had a five-point lead at halftime, but dominated in the second half by opening up in transition to score easy baskets off of rebounds. When the Tigers managed to shut off the lane, the Cougars hit back-to-back threes to go on an 8-0 run, pushing the lead to 48-38.
The Cougars seemingly sealed the game when Scott hit back-to-back threes to push the cushion to 64-48 with 7:27 left.
Head coach Todd Buchanan said he feels his squad is earning a reputation as a second-half team.
“We have to stay aggressive,” Buchanan said. “When we get lackluster or we’re out of it, we’re mediocre.
“When we push the basketball in transition and keep people on their heels, we can be really good.”
Both teams exchanged runs in the first half, with the Tigers (14-5, 3-2) coming out with a 9-6 lead.
The Cougars answered with an 11-0 run to make it 17-9 and never relinquished the lead, despite several comeback attempts by the Tigers.
Overcoming slow starts
Even with the advantage, the Cougars’ early play frustrated Buchanan. He said the team needs to begin games with a bigger sense of urgency,
“We didn’t play well the first half,” he said. “We were not aggressive as much as I’d like.
“We have to take care of the basketball better and we have to be able to read defenses better and get into our press offense quicker.”
Senior forward Courtney Taylor fell one rebound shy of recording another double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds.
Scott led the Cougars with 20 points, and went 4-8 from the 3-point range.
The confidence level remains high for the Cougars, as they will shift their focus to the UCF Knights.
Buchanan said if the team keeps putting defense as its top priority, they will be a contender to win C-USA.
“If we continue to guard people the way we have guarded people to this point, I like our chances against everybody in this conference,” Buchanan said.
The Cougars will now prepare for a brief road trip. Their next game is a 6 p.m. matchup Thursday at UCF Arena in Orlando, Fla. Afterward the team returns home to face SMU at 2 p.m. Sunday at Hofheinz Pavilion.