Men's Basketball Falls to Houston in Conference Play

Wednesday, February 8

Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse

7 p.m. CT

Tulane University

4-20, 1-11AAC

Houston

17-7, 8-4AAC

Houston

Tulane

Photo by: Parker Waters

Men's Basketball Falls to Houston in Conference Play

Feb 8, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane men's basketball suffered a 91-62 home loss to Houston in American Athletic Conference action Wednesday evening at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

Five Green Wave players scored in double-figures, led by Cameron Reynolds' team-high 13 points and six rebounds. Ray Ona Embo and Melvin Frazier added 12 points apiece, while Malik Morgan and Kain Harris chipped in 10 points each.

Damyean Dotson led the Cougars with a game-high 32 points on 12-for-16 shooting, while Rob Gray scored 18 points. Armoni Brooks contributed 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench, as Houston (17-7, 8-4 AAC) shot 34-for-65 (.523) overall and 13-for-24 (.542) from three-point range on the night.

The Green Wave fell behind, 7-3, in the early going, forcing head coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr. to call a timeout just two minutes and 20 seconds into the game. Tulane (4-20, 1-11 AAC) responded by making its first five shots from the floor to ignite a 10-0 scoring run however, beginning with five-straight points by Ona Embo, to pull in front, 13-7, with 13:33 remaining.

Houston countered with an 8-0 run of its own over the next two minutes however to jump back in front by a pair with 11:41 to play. The run would continue to 14-straight after Gray sunk a jump-shot just past the halfway mark of the half to put the Cougars ahead, 21-13.

A layup by Harris brought the Green Wave back within a pair, 21-19, with 7:37 remaining, but Houston would close the half on a 17-4 run to take a 38-23 advantage into the locker rooms at halftime.

The Cougars began the half shooting 10-for-13 from the floor and played aggressive defense to build its lead to 68-36 with 10:10 remaining in the game.

Houston created its largest lead of the game – 37 points – when a Brooks layup made it 76-39 with 7:58 left on the clock.

Tulane was outscored, 36-16, in the paint, 27-9 off turnovers, 13-9 on second-chance baskets and 27-11 off the bench.

Tulane will take a seven-day break between games before traveling to Dallas to take on SMU next Wednesday, Feb. 15. Opening tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m., in Moody Coliseum and the game will be televised on American Sports Network with streaming available via the WatchESPN app.