Houston Cougars defeat TCU behind a huge offensive night with Aubrey Coleman's 33 points leading the way
The Houston Cougar (7-3) offense used a second half surge to put away the TCU Horned Frogs (6-6) 105-81 Wednesday night a Hofheinz Pavilion. The Coogs used some lights out shooting and a very effective trapping defense to keep the Horned Frogs looking for an answer all night long.
Aubrey Coleman helped bury TCU in the second half as he tore the nets up for 26 second half points.Out of the first 14 points the Houston scored in the second half, Coleman had 10 of them. While he led the offensive push, the Coogs defense kept the Horned Frogs off balance out of of sync.
"We need to keep up the same defensive intensity we have the past two games", said Coleman. We always had their point guard, who is a great player, thinking and changing his mind".
Coleman came into the game as the leading scorer in the nation with a 26.8 points per game average. And he would not disappoint as he showed TCU just what he is capable of.
The Cougars did a good job of taking care of the ball in the first half but their trapping defense wreaked havoc on the visiting Horn Frogs. They forced 13 turnovers in the first half to help fuel their offense. With the defense applying their pressure, Kelvin Lewis had the hot hand on offense helping turn the turnovers into points for Houston as he nailed five of his 10 3-point attempts in the first half. Coleman was still looking for his rhythm in the early going but Lewis was able to step up and help fuel the Coogs offense.
"We have to protect the home court" said Lewis. "We can't let anybody come and get wins on our court. That gives us extra motivation to not let anyone win here."
TCU led 24-23 midway through the first half before Lewis drained a 3-pointer to put Houston out in front before the Horn Frogs evened things up again at 28-28. Maurice NcNeil sank a couple of free throws moments later the put the Coogs up and they would never trail again. Houston managed to make a run that had their lead out to 12 at 52-40 at the break.
Houston continued to force turnovers in the second half and their offense was simple a scoring machine as they built their lead to over 20 points. They took total control of the game as the second half wore on before closing things out for the 105-81 win.
"We played a good team and a well coached team", said head coach Tom Penders. "I don't like lining up against Jimmy, as he was a great player on one of the best teams I ever coached, but TCU and UH is a great series and we should play each other in every sport at least once a year, along with all of the old Southwest conference teams, since it was one of the greatest conferences in the NCAA."
Kelvin Lewis finished with 25 points and Adam Brown totaled 21 points with nine rebounds for Houston. They shot 57 percent from the field and 63 percent in the second half. Aubrey Coleman had a game high 33 points and Adam Brown contributed 21 points with nine rebounds and four assists. Ronnie Moss led TCU with his 23 points to go along with seven assists.
