Houston Cougars lose to Memphis 69-59 inside Fertitta Center to end a 37-game home winning streak

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POSTED: February 12, 2022 -- 7:24 p.m. CT

Houston, TX -- (Fertitta Center)

The Houston Cougars lost 69-59 to the Memphis Tigers Saturday afternoon. The loss ends Houston's 37-game home winning streak; and, Houston has now lost two consecutive regular season games for the first time since a game losing streak in January 2017.

Despite 19 turnovers, Houston led 53-48 with 5:05 on the game clock. However, Memphis made the winning plays the rest of the way to earn the victory.

Memphis forward DeAndre Williams made a 3-point shot to cut Houston's lead to 2 (53-51) with 4:44 on the clock.

Then, after a well-executed out-of-bounds play, Houston senior guard Taze Moore missed a layup.

Memphis' Lester Quinones swished a 3 to Memphis on top 54-53 with 3:48 on the clock. The Tigers never trailed the rest of the game.

Houston trailed 56-53 and was playing solid defense when, with the shot clock winding down, Houston's Reggie Chaney fouled Williams while Williams was attempting a 3 point shot. Williams made all three free throws for a 59-53 lead with 95 seconds remaining in the game.

"There's an expectation to do that (battle through adversity) here," Kelvin Sampson, Houston Head Coach said after the game. "But, you can't make losing plays like fouling the shooter. Putting him on the line for three shots when the shot clock is going off.

"Missing a layup. Getting caught on a switch on their splits which led to a layup. "We had some miscommunication mistakes."

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Houston started the game slowly and trailed 15-4 with 14:20 remaining in the first half. Coach Sampson credits Memphis Tigers Head Coach Penny Hardaway for doing a better job preparing his team to play than he did with his team.

"Penny did a great job getting his team prepared to play," Coach Sampson commented.

The game featured numerous runs. After Memphis led 15-4, Houston tied the game at 17. Then, Memphis scored 7 in a row before Houston responded with 7 consecutive points to tie the game 24. The game was tied at 26 and at 28 before Fabian White hit a corner 3 pointer for a 31-28 Houston lead with 41 seconds left in the first half.

Houston led 31-28 at the half.

Memphis outscored Houston 10-2 the first 3 minutes of the second half to lead 38-33. Fabian White made another three-pointer to cut Houston's deficit to 38-36; but, Memphis scored the next 5 points to lead by 7 (43-36).

When Memphis' Landers Nolley sank his fourth three-pointer of the game, Houston trailed 48-42 with 9:19 on the game clock. The Coogs scored the next 11 points. Jamal Shead, Houston's only point guard, scored 5 points during the 11-0 spurt.

Houston's lead was short-lived as Williams sank a 3 to kick start Memphis' 15-0 run to put the game away. The Tigers improve to 14-8 overall and 8-4 in The American.

Taze Moore and Fabian White each scored 15 points to lead Houston. Jamal Shead was next with 12 points. White also had 6 of Houston's 19 turnovers. White made 3 of his 4 three-point attempts. Houston shot 7 for 23 (30.4%) from three-point range in the game.

Memphis made 9 of 22 three-point attempts including 6 of 12 threes in the second half. The Tigers also made 18 of 19 free throws in the game going 13 for 13 from the line in the second half. Landers Nolley II scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Tigers. Freshman big Jalen Duren scored 14 points and added 11 rebounds.

"That's a really, really talented team," Coach Sampson remarked. "That's not just an NCAA Tournament team. That's a second weekend team. They're that good. Duren's a top 10 pick in the (NBA) Draft. We don't have one of those."

Coach Sampson concluded, "We didn't make enough winning plays tonight. But, that's a really, really good team that beat us."

"I can't say enough about how well Memphis played tonight; but, our kids will be resilient and we'll bounce back."

Houston's next game is Thursday, February 17, at home versus the UCF Knights. Tip is set for 8 p.m. Central Time, on either ESPN or ESPN2.

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