For the first time since March 2017, Houston has dropped back-to-back games, as Memphis defeated the sixth-ranked Cougars 69-59, ending UH’s 37 game win streak at the Fertitta Center.
As the saying goes, basketball is a game of runs and this was on full display on Saturday afternoon.
Memphis was hungry from the get-go and it showed in the game’s opening minutes as the Tigers put together a 15-4 run.
Taze Moore refused to let Memphis deliver the knockout punch early on, as the UH graduate guard scored seven consecutive points to get the Cougars within three points midway through the first half.
Reggie Chaney cut the deficit to a single point on the next possession, as the senior forward threw down an emphatic one-hand putback dunk that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
The Cougars took their first lead of the game at the 1:55 mark of the first half on a fast break layup by sophomore guard Jamal Shead. Senior forward Fabian White drilled a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the half to give UH a 31-28 lead heading into the locker room.
The UH lead was short-lived as Memphis opened the second half the same way it did the first, putting together a 15-5 run.
But just like they did in the first half, the Cougars responded with a run of their own to keep things tight.
A one-handed slam by Shead spark a UH offensive burst as Shead followed his dunk by drilling a 3-pointer from the top of the arc capped off by Moore going airborne for a dunk of his own off a steal to make it a one-point game with eight minutes remaining.
Moore put UH up for the first time of the second half on the next possession after banking in a floater. A dunk by White followed by a floater by Shead and all of the sudden UH found itself up five points, its largest lead of the game.
Memphis regained the lead just over a minute later on back-to-back 3-pointers from DeAndre Williams and Lester Quinones. The Tigers used this spark to close out the game’s final five minutes with a 21-6 run to secure the victory.
Memphis’ Landers Nolley II scored a game-high 20 points.
White and Moore both had 15 to lead the Cougars in scoring.
UH tied its season-high with 19 turnovers.