Coogs lose to 19th-ranked SMU

Posted: February 18, 2017 -- 10:25 pm CDT.

HOUSTON, TX (Hofheinz Pavilion) -- The Houston Cougars played well but not well enough Saturday afternoon in a 76-66 loss to the 19th-ranked SMU Mustangs.

Final box score: SMU 76, Houston 66

Houston (18-9 overall, 9-5 in the American Athletic Conference) jumped to a 10-2 lead and led the Mustangs by 13 twice mid-way through the first half. However, after leading 24-11, the Coogs went cold from the floor which allowed the Mustangs to methodically walk down the Coogs.

The Mustangs (24-4, 14-1) went on a 15-2 run over the next 6:55 to tie the game at 26 with 1:13 remaining in the first half.

The Coogs scored the final four points of the half to lead 30-26 at halftime.

The second half was close -- even with the Coogs being whistled for four fouls in a 48 second span. 

The Coogs led 40-37 after Damyean Dotson ended a personal field goal drought by nailing a jump shot. (Dotson had missed six straight field goal attempts.)

Forty-seven seconds prior to Dotson's basket, teammate Rob Gray picked up his fourth foul and headed to the bench.

Coogs' head coach Kelvin Sampson believes the game changed when Gray sat down.

"A big part of that game is when Rob Gray picked up his fourth foul with 12:40 to go, and obviously he was cooking," Sampson said. "We do not have that type of team. They have other weapons. We have Damyean Dotson and Rob Gray. We cannot play without them for an extended stretch. We played great defense for large portions of the shot clock and the next thing you know, it’s a one-and-one. Sometimes that’s frustrating.

"That was a frustrating game. I am not disappointed in my guys’ effort."

The Mustangs took the lead 41-40; but, Houston's sophomore point guard Galen Robinson, Jr. split two free throws to knot the game at 41. Robinson, Jr. struggled at the foul line for most of the game. At one point of the game, he was 1 for 7 from the line. He finished the game 3 for 9 on free throws.

With the score tied at 41, the Cougars went scoreless for 4 minutes; and, the Mustangs took advantage with a 6-0 run to lead 47-41. Robinson, Jr. attacked the basket and scored a lay-up; but, once again he missed the foul shot. 

Damyean Dotson swished a 3 from the corner to move the Coogs within 1 point (47-46). After SMU's Ben Emelogu scored, Rob Gray tied the game with a 3-point basket. 

SMU's Ben Moore scored on a putback slam dunk; but, once again, Robinson, Jr. attacked the basket and scored another lay-up. However, once again, he missed the go-ahead free throw.

The score was tied at 51 with 5:14 remaining in the ball game.

SMU scored 5 points before Robinson, Jr. sank a jump shot to inch closer (trailed 56-53); however, the Coogs' offense went stagnant and SMU scored 5 more points to lead by eight points (61-53) with 3:04 on the game clock.

Dotson and Gray each added a three-point basket to keep the Cougars close; but, SMU continued making free throws and stretched the lead to as much as 10 points in the closing seconds of the game.

The Coogs attempted 11 free throws in the game (made 5). The Mustangs took 28 foul shots (made 22).

Rob Gray scored a game-high 23 points. Dotson scored 19. Robinson, Jr. scored 11 and added 7 assists.

"I have to give Houston a ton of credit, they were very sharp, especially on the offensive end," said SMU head coach Tim Jankovich after the game. "I could see that they had done a great job of dissecting film and taking advantage of things that maybe they didn’t last time. They jumped out on us. We also took some bad shots on offense at the beginning of the game, so that put us in the whole. This was a game played at a high level of intensity. Look at what Houston is doing. We’ve been seeing this for a long time. They have two guards that I would put with any combo in the country. I like them. Obviously, they played hard and they’re well coached."

SMU was led by Semi Ojeleye's team-high 22 points. Ben Moore added 18 points and 13 rebounds. Sterling Brown scored 16 points while Jarrey Foster (North Shore High School) scored 10 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and handed out 2 assists.

"We are still stewing over this one a bit, but we still got great opportunities in front of us," said Sampson. "We were 13-7 at one point, and now we were 18-7. The last two games we lost were against SMU. We are a lot better today than when we played them the last time. Now we got a great opportunity against a really hot Connecticut team. They are playing really well now. They got their kids back and playing again. We have to step up and play good. We play good. I like our team. Tonight, every time we moved forward, we moved backwards. There was just not a lot of consistency in what we were doing down there defensively."

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