With Hakeem Olajuwon and Elvin Hayes, two of Houston’s all-time great big men, sitting courtside at Fertitta Center, the Cougars frontcourt dominated the paint, powering the country’s 12th ranked team to 76-66 victory over Wichita State on Saturday afternoon.
Once again, senior center Josh Carlton proved to be a force to be reckoned with in the paint, setting the tone early and causing problems for the Shockers all afternoon.
The Cougars clicked on both ends of the floor in the game’s opening minutes, knocking down shots and forcing Wichita State turnovers to jump out to an early 8-0 lead.
UH continued to shoot the ball at a high clip, going 50 percent from the field in the first half.
The trio of graduate transfer guard Taze Moore, senior forward Fabian White Jr. and Carlton carried the load for the Cougars offensively in the first half, combining to go 13 of 15 from the field to account for 29 of UH’s 36 points.
Despite its slow start, Wichita State stayed within striking distance thanks to a group effort as eight different Shockers scored in the first half.
A pair of 3-pointers by White early into the second half grew the UH lead to 11.
The UH lead remained double-digits for the majority of the second half as the Cougars continued to shoot the ball at a high clip and cash in on easy points off Wichita State turnovers.
Wichita State had one final push, going on a 9-0 run to get within six points of UH but the Cougars weathered the storm, refusing to allow the Shockers to get any closer as sophomore guard Jamal Shead ended the Shockers’ run by intercepting a pass and turning it into a fast break layup.
Carlton led the way with his second consecutive double-double, scoring a game-high 22 points to go along with 12 rebounds.
Moore finished with 17 points and White had 15.