DeJon Jarreau's triple-double guides 2-seed Houston to 77-52 win over 10-seed Tulane in AAC Tournament

Buy Houston Cougars Gear at Fanatics.com

The Saxenian Family

UPDATED: March 12, 2021 -- 11:14 p.m. CT

POSTED: March 12, 2021 -- 9:42 p.m. CT

FORT WORTH, TX (Dickies Arena) -- Houston senior guard DeJon Jarreau made history Friday night in the Houston Cougars 77-52 win over Tulane in the third quarterfinal game of the 2021 American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament:

Jarreau finished the game with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists for the first triple-double in the history of the AAC Tournament. Jarreau's triple-double is the first triple-double in Houston's program since February 17, 1993, when Charles "Bo" Outlaw accomplished the feat with 10 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots against Texas A&M.

"Just really proud of that," Kelvin Sampson, Houston Head Coach said of Jarreau's accomplishment. "That's a big deal. I've sat on the bench and watched James Harden get a ton of them; and, I never took his for granted."

Coach Sampson added, "I always told him that he was going to get a triple-double before he left here -- because he could."

"That's special," Jarreau said of his triple-double. "Like Coach said, it's something we always talk about. He always said he thinks I'm very capable of it. Even my coaches and my teammates. That's just special. I'm very grateful.

"During the game, they kept reminding me: 'You need two rebounds. You need this. You need that.' I'm just grateful for that."

---

SUPPORT The Houston Roundball Review:

Purchase your Coogs' gear at Fanatics.com via this link;

Get ESPN+ via this link;

Save when you get the Disney bundle (ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu) with this link;

OR, contribute via PayPal or the Cash App.

---

Tulane competed and battled Houston in the first half. The Green Wave made their first four field goals of the first half and stayed close to Houston throughout the half. Houston never led by more than six points in the opening 20 minutes.

Both teams cooled off making shots as the half progressed; however, both teams took excellent care of the basketball: Tulane committed the only turnover in the opening half.

Houston led Tulane 33-29 at halftime. Houston forward Justin Gorham scored a game-high 9 points in the first half.

Houston made 12 of 33 field goal attempts in the half including 5 of 20 from long range.

Tulane made 12 of 27 field goals including 3 for 8 from deep.

Houston had a 21-17 rebounding edge in the first half.

---

The Saxenian Family

---

Houston's offense heated up in the second half; and, Houston's physical defense began to wear down Tulane.

"I want to give a lot of credit to Houston," Ron Hunter, Tulane Head Coach said after the game. "I think the second half they came out and really just wore us down.

"I was really proud of our kids. They hung in there. The first five minutes in the second half we couldn't make any shots. I thought their physicality kind of us wore us down; and, they kind of broke the game wide open."

Houston got hot from three-point range which helped put Tulane away. Houston made 7 of their 11 three-point attempts in the second to finish the game 12 for 31 from three.

Quentin Grimes made three of his 4 long-range attempts in the second half; and, Marcus Sasser went 2 for 2 from deep.

Jarreau scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half and tallied 4 of his 10 assists and 5 of his 10 rebounds in 16 second half minutes.

Coach Hunter said Jarreau's performance was key to Houston's success on offense.

"Even, when I thought when Houston was struggling early, he made every, single play to kind of keep them around, keep them around, until they could blow the game open.

"He played like an All-American today. The kid was really, really special. If he can play this way, I just I think they're hard to beat because what it does it allows them to score. Defensively, they're always going to be there. But, when he can play like that, man, it gets them to another level."

DeJon Jarreau and Quentin Grimes each scored 15 to lead Houston. Marcus Sasser added 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Justin Gorham finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Houston shot 60.0% (15 for 25) from the floor in the second half while Tulane made 8 of 27 field goal attempts.

After the game, Jarreau said, "We got back to playing Cougar basketball."

UP NEXT:

Houston's next game is Saturday, March 13, in the semifinals of the 2021 AAC Men's Basketball Tournament. Houston will face 3-seed Memphis. The game is scheduled for to tip at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

CLICK HERE for The HRR's write-ups of Coogs' men's hoops games.