Kirk Van Slyke and Joseph Young led UH with 11 points each in the Cougars’ 70-54 loss to SMU. Despite the loss, it was one of Van Slyke’s best recent outings. He was 4-7 from the field and nailed 2-4 from three-point range. Despite tying the team lead, Young shot 4-13 from the field. | Aaron Cisneros/The Daily Cougar
The Mustangs took out the Cougars 70-54 on Wednesday at Moody Collesium in Dallas behind the strength of a potent attack from long range.
Four Mustangs finished with two or more 3-pointers, led by five from guard London Giles, who scored a game-high 16 points.
Forward Robert Nyakundi was not far behind, scoring 15 points on 5-11 shooting with two 3-pointers.
As a team, SMU connected on 11-22 three-point attempts and shot 47 percent from the field.
The Cougars played the Mustangs close for most of the first half, even leading 20-19 with 7:11 to go, but an 18-7 run by SMU to close the half gave the Mustangs the momentum they needed to stay ahead.
The Cougars were able to compete with the Mustangs on the boards, but lost the turnover battle 16-9. SMU was able to take advantage of those miscues and scored 19 points off of turnovers compared to UH’s six.
Despite an emphasis this week in practice to be more aggessive on offense and attack the hoop, UH only managed to get to the line for nine free-throw attempts.
Joseph Young and Kirk Van Slyke came off of the bench to lead UH in scoring with 11 point each, but Young did so on 4-13 shooting and did not get to the free throw line.
In 16 minutes, Van Slyke connected on 4-7 from the field, including two 3-pointers.
Freshman TaShawn Thomas managed just two points and two rebounds despite playing 25 minutes.
During the Cougars’ current four-game slide, Thomas has only pulled down 3.5 reounds per game.
Injury update
Freshmen LeRon Barnes and Jherrod Stiggers sat out again for the Cougars.
Barnes is battling a groin injury and Stiggers is recovering from a knee scope.
Sophomore Mikhail McLean remains on crutches after suffering a stress fracture in his foot, but head coach James Dickey said he is doing well.
“I think he has another 10 days to two weeks on crutches, and then he’ll start a six-week rehab program before he gets back to full speed on the court,” he said.
