Houston Cougars win big on the road, 80-58, over Cincinnati

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POSTED: February 6, 2022 -- 11:23 p.m. CT

Cincinnati, OH -- (Fifth Third Arena)

Sunday evening, the Houston Cougars men's basketball team defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats 80-58 inside Cincinnati's Fifth Third Arena with a solid performance on offense and on defense.

"This time of the year," Kelvin Sampson, Houston Head Coach said after the game. "There's a lot of teams in reverse and then there are some teams that are going forward. You're going to be one or the other. You're either getting better or you're not.

"We take a lot of pride over the years -- once we get into February -- to just keep getting better. We practice all year for this."

Houston (20-2 overall, 9-0 in the American Athletic Conference) set the tone immediately when senior guard Taze Moore scored the first 2 points of the game with a dunk in 4 seconds. FOUR SECONDS.

Next, thirty-three seconds later, Houston graduate forward Fabian White scored a layup for a quick, 4-0 Houston lead. Houston's lead stretched to 9-1 before Cincinnati's Ody Oguama made a jump hook for the Bearcats' first field goal of the game.

Moore converted a three-point play before White nailed back-to-back three-point shots. Kyler Edwards hit a jump shot from the top of the key to cap off an 11-0 Houston run to boost the Coogs' lead to 20-3 with 14:02 on the clock.

Edwards sank a second three-pointer to put Houston on top by 18 (25-7). The Coogs led by as much as 21 points in the first half. Cincinnati (15-7, 5-4) trailed 40-19 before ending the half with a 12-2 run to slice Houston's lead to 42-31 at halftime.

White scored 15 points in the first half on 6 for 8 field goal shooting including 3 for 3 three-point shots.

Houston scored 1.167 points per possession in the first half and outscored Cincinnati 20-8 in the paint.

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Cincinnati guard Jeremiah Davenport made a three-pointer to open the scoring in the second half to extend UC's run to 15-2. Houston's lead was down to 8 points (42-34) with 19:41 remaining in the second half.

The Bearcats got no closer than 8 the rest of the game.

"This (Houston) is the sixth-ranked team in the country and they went to the Final Four last year," Wes Miller, Cincinnati Bearcats Head Coach said after the game. "I've been around college basketball now for a really long time. I've been around really good basketball programs.

"That's a really good basketball program. You have good teams, that's a good basketball program. There is a certain level of play every single year, year after year, that Kelvin (Sampson, Houston head coach) has his crew doing year after year. It doesn't matter when the faces change, it's the same thing. I've been around teams like that and been a part of teams like that. I've coached against teams like that, at maybe a lower level. That's the standard. Now, we have to figure out how to match that for 40 minutes."

White made his 4th three-pointer of the game to up the lead to 11 points.

Houston sophomore guard Jamal Shead added a pull up jumper; then, Houston senior center Josh Carlton split 2 foul shots for a 48-34 Houston lead.

Houston led 57-44 with 11:23 remaining in the game when Shead put his stamp on the game with a pull jumper; a dish to teammate Reggie Chaney for a dunk; followed by a swished floater in the paint. After Davenport, made 1 free throw, Shead made another driving layup for a 65-45 Houston lead with 9:10 on the game clock.

Shead injured his right foot on the play. He hopped to the bench; but, he returned to the game minutes later.

Shead finished the game with 17 points (8/15 field goals); 6 assists; 5 rebounds; and 4 turnovers.

Fabian White was stellar throughout the game. In 32 minutes of action, White scored a career-high 22 points on 8 for 13 field goal shooting (4 for 5 three-pointers); 9 rebounds; 2 assists; 2 blocked shots; and zero turnovers.

With the win, White ties Houston legend Michael Young for the most wins (109) in the history of the Houston Cougars men's basketball program.

After the game, White said, "It's exciting. It's something that I never thought I would be doing. Shout out to my teammates. All my teammates from 2017. 2018 to now. And, all my coaching staff helping me out."

For the game, Houston made 32 of 60 field goals (53.3%) while Cincinnati shot 34.0% (18 for 53).

The 9-0 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 Wednesday, February 9, on the road against the SMU Mustangs. Tip is set for 6 p.m. Central Time on ESPN2.

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