Coogs 68, Mississippi State 76

HOUSTON, TX (Hofheinz Pavilion) -- Foul trouble and poor shooting doomed the Houston Cougars' comeback effort Friday night. The Cougars lost 76-68 to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in front of an announced crowd of 609 fans gathered inside Hofheinz Pavilion.

The Cougars (0-1) trailed 16-3. Plus, foul trouble to starting frontcourt players, Yasmeen Thompson and Destini Texada, caused head coach Todd Buchanan to go to his bench players and zone defense early.

Both worked.

"We never play zone; and, we ran it three different ways," said Buchanan. "We did a really good job of mixing things up. I thought it really aided us to not only be in the game but stay in the game when were down."

Marissa Ashton and Tyler Gilbert came off the bench and combined for 16 points and nine rebounds in the 25 first half minutes.

“I’m proud of Tyler (Gilbert) and Marissa Ashton the way they came in and filled those voids tremendously," Buchanan said after the game. "They had a lot of success, and I was really proud for the minutes they put in. I think that’s the big difference. We’re a hybrid team right now. We have five seniors, we only have two juniors, and the rest are sophomores and freshmen. For them to step up the way they did and give us a chance to be there in the end, I was really happy with that.”

The switch to zone defense slowed down the Bulldogs offense. After making 11 of their first 23 field goals, the Bulldogs finished the first half making 3 of their last 16 shot attempts.

Poor shooting by Mississippi State (1-0) and free throw shooting allowed the Cougars to trail 31-29 at halftime.

Despite making only 6 of 27 field goals (22.2%), the Cougars sank 15 of 20 foul shots in the first half.

The first half featured 28 fouls: 16 on the Bulldogs and 12 on the Coogs.

The Bulldogs began the second half with a 14-3 run to lead 45-32 with 16:19 left in the game. Freshman Dominique Dillingham (Klein Collins High School in Spring, TX) nailed the jumper which put State up 13 points.

But, sophomore Jessieka Palmer brought the Cougars back in the game with three consecutive three-point baskets to trim the Coogs' deficit to 46-41 with 14:17 remaining.

State pushed the lead to 54-45; but, the Coogs inched within four points (55-51) thanks to points from Texada, sophomore Marche' Amerson, and junior Demetria Foreman.

Once again, State responded and increased the lead to 63-53 with seven minutes on the clock. The Coogs made one final push. Foreman scored five points during an 11-4 run to trim the Cougars' deficit to 67-64 with 3:30 left on the clock. But, the Cougars wouldn't get any closer as the Bulldogs earned the eight point victory.

The Cougars finished the game making just 18 of 57 field goals (31.6%) and 25 of 39 free throws (64.1%). Palmer led the Coogs with a game-high 18 points off the bench. Gilbert finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Ashton added 10 points, six rebounds, two blocked shots, and one steal.

“In the beginning I played a little timid," Palmer said. "I talked to coach before the second half and I picked it up. My teammates were able to find me when I was open, and I knocked down some good shots. Overall my game was okay, but I could have done much better.”

“I really felt like this game coming off the bench I really wanted to bring some defensive intensity," said Gilbert. "I feel like that’s something that we need. And overall, I felt like as a team we were really starting to buy in to what our coaches have been saying.”

The game featured 57 fouls (29-28, Mississippi State) and 69 free throws (39-30, Coogs).

Coach Buchanan acknowledged the amount of fouls and free throws are to be expected this season.

"Yea, that's what they (NCAA and NCAA officials) are telling us," Buchanan said. "I've watched the video (NCAA official video). We've had our Senior Commissioner come here and do a clinic. For the most part, I thought the officials were very consistent and very fair."

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