Saturday's Sports Update: Cougars top Owls in rivalry game thriller
The men's basketball team was unable to avenge the women's loss in the second game of the evening doubleheader at Hofheinz Pavilion, losing 72-65 in front of a season-high crowd of 5,533.UH guard Aubrey Coleman recovered from a slow start and scored 21 of his game-high 27 points in the second half.
"We tried everything on him defensively," said head coach Ben Braun. "We tried going over the top of screens, we tried doubling screens and sliding through, but he made every big shot."
Both teams shot under forty percent in the first half and the Owls went into halftime trailing 31-28. The Owls were effective scoring the ball in the paint, though rebounding against the athletic UH frontcourt proved to be problematic.
Sophomore center Trey Stanton was the most effective answer inside for the Owls. Stanton scored 13 points, but added 11 rebounds and one block.
The intensity and speed of the game increased in the second half as a series of turnovers led to fast break points for both sides.
Senior guard Rodney Foster scored 11 of his team-high 20 points in the first eight minutes of the second half while the rest of the Owl offense was unable to get settled against the high-pressure Cougar defense.
"It wasn't just his line of what he scored," said Braun. "It was his presence on the floor. He played like a veteran and got our guys in the right spots."
Coleman, who came into the game coming off back-to-back thirty point games, matched Foster point for point as he scored 11 straight for the Cougars over a six minute stretch.
With 4:31 left in the game, Foster nailed his biggest shot of the game, a three-pointer that tied the score at 59-59. The Owls would tie the game just once more at 61-61, when freshman guard Connor Frizzelle made his only basket of the game on a layup.
After the score, the Cougars embarked on an 8-0 that drained three and half minutes off the game clock and forced the Owls into putting UH on the line.
"We couldn't quite pull it out, but all around it was a competitive game," said Foster. "Even though we lost we can come out the game with a lot confidence that we can play with anybody.
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