---

Volume 3, Issue 2                                    University of Houston

---

Cougars blown out by Mustangs; continue rivalry 
with Texas tonight

By Jake McKim
Breaking News Staff

 The Cougar men's basketball team traveled to Dallas on Sunday and received a harsh reminder that the rebuilding process has a long way to go.

 In front of a relatively bored crowd of 3,693 at Southern Methodist's Moody Coliseum, the Mustangs managed to slap the hapless Cougars back down to Earth every time they appeared to make a run. The score summed up the embarrassing night best for the Cougars, 94-69.

 "We came out tentative early, fell behind and never could fight back," said UH junior guard Dominic Smith, the only Cougar able to get anything going offensively against the Mustangs.

 Smith, the high scorer for UH with 23 points, consistently went strong to the basket, impressing even SMU fans. Unfortunately, he was the only player able to do anything even mildly notable for the Cougars.

 The numbers tell the story of how wretched a shooting night it was for UH. Bernard Smith went one-for-eight, George Williams shot six-of-21, Chad Hendrick went three-for-nine and Patrick Okafor finished with two-of-10 shooting.

 UH freshman center Alton Ford was also ineffective, scoring just six points before fouling out early in the second half.

 Guard Damon Hancock led the way for SMU with 26 points, while senior guard Jeryl Sasser, who many believe will be a top-10 pick in next year's NBA draft, scored 15 points and grabbed an impressive 13 rebounds.

 The closest the Cougars were able to get was 18-14 midway through the first half.
 Just when it seemed the Cougars might make a game of it, SMU would go on a backbreaking run that made UH look like a high school squad.

 "They were aggressive on defense and very quick to the ball," Dominic Smith said. "We just couldn’t get anything going offensively."

 The Cougars were coming off a lengthy 17-day break for finals, which may explain some of its sluggishness out of the gate. But Dominic Smith was quick to dismiss that theory.

 "I'm not gonna use the layoff as an excuse," he said. "We just didn't execute."
 UH will play Texas at 7 p.m. Dec. 20 at Hofheinz Pavilion. The match-up is evolving into a rivalry between two schools that genuinely appear not to enjoy each other’s company.

 Tickets are on sale at the Hofheinz ticket office. Fans can purchase them by calling 713-GO-COOGS.
 

Send comments to dcsports@mail.uh.edu.