Coogs start Big 12 play with 89-55 win over West Virginia

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POSTED: January 6, 2024 -- 11:33 p.m. CT

HOUSTON, TX -- (Fertitta Center)

The Houston Cougars rolled past the West Virginia Mountaineers 89-55 Saturday afternoon in Houston's first-ever Big 12 men's basketball game.

Houston limited WVU's RaeQuan Battle to 4 points on 1 for 9 field goal shooting. Battled missed his first 8 field goal attempts. Battle entered the game averaging 27.3 points per game and winner of the last 2 Big Player of the Week honors.

Houston's Emanuel Sharp had the defensive assignment on Battle and Houston senior point guard Jamal Shead said Sharp's defense on Battle set the tone.

"Emanuel only shot the ball four times, but he was our most valuable player on defense the whole game," Shead said. "He took that challenge and tried to shut that guy down, and did a really good job, so hats off to E(manuel)."

Shead was stellar at point guard for the Coogs. He finished the games with 11 assists and just 1 turnover.

"We scouted them, and we saw the areas that we felt like we could attack," Kelvin Sampson, Houston Head Coach, said after the game. "Jamal is outstanding at that, and I thought he was a master.

Shead also blocked a career-high tying 4 shots.

Houston (14-0 overall, 1-0 in Big 12) led 5-4 when J'Wan Roberts, Shead, and LJ Cryer each scored baskets during an 18-6 run which increased Houston's lead to 23-10 with 9:14 remaining in the first half.

Cryer scored 16 points in the opening half on 6 for 7 field goal shooting (4 for 5 threes). Cryer almost scored as many points as WVU in the first half. Houston enjoyed a 48-22 halftime lead.

In the first half, the Coogs scored 1.548 points per possession while WVU scored 0.710 points per possession.

WVU (5-9, 0-1) trailed by as much as 39 points in the second half but managed to slice 12 points off Houston's lead to trail 72-45 before Houston finished the game with a 17-10 spurt to win by 34.

"That was an impressive performance defensively," West Virginia interim coach Josh Eilert said of Houston. "I thought we could maybe create some advantages in the game play, but they did a masterful job defensively in their game plan in terms of what they did to us and what they took us out of."

LJ Cryer finished the game with 20 points on 7 for 12 (4 for 7 threes) field goal shooting. Damian Dunn scored 14 points off the bench; and, Houston big man Ja'Vier Francis added 13 points (6 for 8 fgs), 5 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots.

After the game, Coach Sampson made a point to credit Francis for his performance.

"Ja'Vier is a really good player," Coach Sampson said. "Ja'Vier is getting better. He's coming."

Houston's next game is Tuesday, January 9, on the road, against Iowa State. Tip is scheduled for 6 pm CT on ESPN2.

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