Houston Cougars top Tulane, 73-62, for 11th straight win

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POSTED: February 3, 2022 -- 8:50 a.m. CT

HOUSTON, TX -- (Fertitta Center)

Wednesday night, the Houston Cougars men's basketball team improved to 19-2 overall and 8-0 in the American Athletic Conference with a 73-62 victory over the Tulane Green Wave. The win was methodical not pretty.

"We are what we are," Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson said after the game. "That's why every win that this group gets is a great win. Great win tonight."

Tulane trailed 22-21 before Jamal Shead knocked down a three-point shot to boost Houston's lead to 25-21 at the 9:42 mark of the first half.

Neither team scored for nearly 2 minutes until Houston's Taze Moore scored a layup (assist from Shead). Tulane's scoring drought continued for another minute when Fabian White scored layup to stretch Houston's lead to 29-21 with 6:49 on the game clock.

Houston's 7-0 walk (not run) took nearly three minutes.

The Green Wave's drought lasted five minutes before Tylan Pope made 2 free throws to trim Houston's lead to 29-23 with 4:58 remaining in the opening half.

Houston led 41-30 at halftime.

At the end of the first half, players from both teams got into a heated verbal discussion which lasted a few seconds. Benches cleared but nothing more than trash talk was exchanged.

Fabian White and Kevin Cross were each given a technical foul.

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Taze Moore completed a three point play early in the second half for a 44-33 Houston lead. Tulane responded with a 7-0 run in 88 seconds to slice Houston's lead to 44-40 with 17:15 on the clock.

During the run, Jamal Shead (Houston's only point guard) picked up his 4th foul with 18:10 left in the second half. Shead sat on the bench for most of the second half; and, Houston's offense was not very crisp. But, Houston managed to hold off Tulane.

The Green Wave trailed by 4 points twice more and 5 points two times the rest of the second half; however, Taze Moore's three-point basket with 8:15 remaining in the game gave Houston an 8 point lead. Houston led by as much as 13 and never by less than 7 points the rest of the game.

Coach Sampson concluded, "You know you have a pretty good team when you shoot the ball as poorly as we did; have your point guard for (only) 17 minutes; and still find a way to win against a good team."

Fabian White scored a game-high 21 points to tie his career high. In the game, White moved past 1,000 points in his college career, becoming the 49th Cougar in program history to reach that milestone and the first since guard Corey Davis Jr. during the 2018-19 season.

After the game, White was more focused on the victory rather than the individual milestone.

"I'm celebrating the win more than 1,000 points," said White. "Thank you to all my teammates getting me open and getting me good shots."

Taze Moore finished the game with 12 points on 5/16 fg shooting (1/7 threes). Moore added 5 rebounds and 6 assists.

Houston center Josh Carlton scored 14 points on 6/7 fgs and 9 boards and 3 blocked shots. Carlton played 23 minutes because of foul trouble.

Houston freshman guard Ramon Walker scored 11 points on 4/9 fgs (1/6 threes); 2/2 fts. Walker pulled down 4 rebounds.

Senior guard Kyler Edwards was 2 for 10 from three; but, he had 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Edwards played all 40 minutes.

Houston made 21 of 32 two point field goals and 8 of 31 three-point attempts. Tulane made 15 of 39 twos and 4 of 19 threes.

The 8-0 start in American Athletic Conference play is only the third time in the history of the Houston Cougars men's basketball program and the first time since the 1983-84 season.

Houston's next game is Sunday, February 6, on the road against the Cincinnati Bearcats. Tip is set for 5 p.m. Central Time on ESPN2.

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