Graduate forward Fabian White Jr. recorded 18 points while shooting 4-for-5 on 3-pointers for the Cougars. | Sean Thomas/The Cougar
The UH men’s basketball team remained perfect in conference play as it cruised past Cincinnati on the road with an 80-58 victory on Sunday.
The Cougars picked up their 20th win of the season while moving on to 9-0 in conference play, as they now move two games above SMU in the American Athletic Conference standings.
Graduate forward Josh Carlton surpassed 1000 career points with his first bucket of the game, as he finished with eight points and six rebounds.
The Cougars came out swinging from the jump as graduate guard Taze Moore broke free for a dunk following the tip-off.
Starting 4-for-4 from the field, the Cougars rode an early 9-1 run in the first 3:13 of the game capped off by a layup from Carlton to secure his 1000th career point.
Following the Bearcats’ first field goal of the game after their timeout, the Cougars hopped on an 11-0 run including two 3-pointers by graduate forward Fabian White Jr. to extend the lead to 20-3 and force another Cincinnati timeout.
Cincinnati managed to keep the game more competitive coming out of the timeout as both teams went back and forth moving past the midway point of the first half at 28-11.
Both teams picked up the pace heading into the final five minutes of the first half, yet the Cougars maintained its lead at 40-21.
All momentum swung the Bearcats’ way as they closed the first half on a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 42-31 at halftime.
White Jr. led the Cougars at the half with 15 points and four rebounds while going 3-for-3 from behind the arc while as a dominant first half for UH slowed at the end and allowed Cincinnati to close the gap to 11 points.
The Cougars went on a 6-0 run after a 3-pointer from Cincinnati to open the second half as the lead was extended to 14 for the Cougars.
UH soon turned up the intensity on both ends of the court and sparked another 6-0 run to force a Cincinnati timeout and grow its lead to 63-44 with 9:55 left in the game.
The Bearcats continued to fight as they tried to close the gap, but the Cougars would not let up.
Down the stretch, both team exchanged scores, but the Cougars’ dominant first half and early second half recovery proved to be too much as they took down the Bearcats
White Jr. finished the game leading in scoring for the Cougars with 22 points along with nine rebounds and two assists.
