LJ Cryer produced his ninth 20-point game of the season as top-ranked Houston earned a wire-to-wire, 67-59 victory over visiting Cincinnati on Tuesday.
Cryer scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the first half to steady the Cougars (25-3, 12-3 Big 12). Teammate Jamal Shead scored all nine of his points after the intermission. Shead missed 9 of 11 shots but finished with 11 assists and four steals.
Houston extended its overall win streak to six games while claiming its 21st consecutive home victory.
J’Wan Roberts added 15 points and five rebounds while Emanual Sharp scored 11 points for the Cougars, who held on despite shooting just 38.9 percent overall while also missing 9 of 27 free throws.
Viktor Lakhin and Simas Lukosius scored 11 points apiece for the Bearcats (16-12, 5-10), who have dropped three straight and 5 of 6. Dan Skillings Jr. paired eight points with eight rebounds for Cincinnati.
The Cougars threatened to run away early in the second half with a quick 7-0 run.
Aziz Bandaogo was whistled for a flagrant foul that sent Shead to the line, where he converted a pair of free throws at the 18:13 mark. Houston maintained possession and Sharp drilled a 3-pointer. After the Bearcats misfired on the opposite end, Sharp struck from deep again, extending Houston’s lead to 38-21 with 17:33 remaining.
Cincinnati clawed back from that 17-point deficit, and when John Newman III followed a Jizzle James 3-pointer with one of his own with 8:45 left, the gap was down to 47-38.
Roberts scored out of a Houston timeout to extend the lead back to double digits, and when Shead completed a three-point play with 5:17 remaining, the Cougars took a 54-40 advantage.
Cryer was essentially the lone source of offense for the Cougars before the break. He had eight points of the Cougars’ first 14 points. When the Bearcats closed to within 16-11 on a 7-0 spurt capped by a Lukosius 3-pointer, Cryer responded with a three-point play with 7:19 left in the half.
Sharp closed the half with a buzzer-beating trey that gave the Cougars a 26-17 lead. Cincinnati shot 7 of 27 (25.9 percent) in the half, committed 10 turnovers and surrendered nine second-chance points.
–Field Level Media