Cold Shooting Hinders Men's Basketball at Houston

Tuesday, January 24

Houston, TX

8 p.m. CT

Tulane University

4-16, 1-7

Houston

14-7, 5-4

Tulane

Houston

Cold Shooting Hinders Men's Basketball at Houston

Jan 24, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane men's basketball team was unable to bounce back from a slow start shooting from the field and suffered a 65-51 loss at Houston in American Athletic Conference action Tuesday night at Hofheinz Pavilion.

Malik Morgan led the Green Wave with 13 points, while Cameron Reynolds tallied his third double-double of the season and second in as many road games with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Ryan Smith also reached double-figures with 10 points and six boards, but Tulane (4-16, 1-7 AAC) scored a season-low 51 points.

Damyean Dotson led Houston (14-7, 5-4 AAC) with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Rob Gray added 12 points and Armoni Brooks chipped in 11 more.

Scoring proved to be a struggle for both teams in the early going, as the Green Wave made just three of its first 16 shot attempts and the Cougars went 3-for-13 from the floor as the olive and blue held a 7-6 advantage at the halfway point of the first half.

Houston would rip off a 15-1 scoring run, capped by a Dotson three-pointer with 6:16 left in the period to open up a 21-8 lead. The Green Wave made a trio of shots in the final minutes and worked hard getting to the free throw line, but shot just 30 percent at the stripe and trailed, 31-16, at halftime.

The Cougars' lead grew to 18 points on multiple occasions early in the second half, but the Green Wave was able to end those runs and counter with brief scoring stints.

Tulane held Houston scoreless for over five minutes and cut the deficit to 11 at 51-40, but scored just six points during that span until a Dotson jumper with 7:02 remaining ended the drought.

The Green Wave was unable to get the deficit back into single digits before the Cougars used a late 7-0 run down to the 2:34 mark for their first 20-point advantage of the night, 61-41.

A three-point play by Ray Ona Embo and a conversion from beyond the arc by Morgan inside the final minute cut Tulane's final deficit to 14.

Despite outscoring the Cougars, 35-34, in the second half, the Green Wave finished the night shooting 18-for-59 (.305) overall, 5-for-23 (.217) beyond the three-point line and 10-for-18 (.556) at the free throw line, while Houston shot 22-for-55 (.400) on the floor, 7-for-22 (.318) from deep and 14-for-20 (.700) at the foul stripe.

The Cougars owned a 16-8 scoring edge off turnovers and 15-10 off the bench while holding a 44-37 margin on the glass.

Tulane will continue its road swing in Storrs, Conn., on Saturday, Jan. 28 against Connecticut. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion, and the game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.