Sports
 

Coogs look for payback at TCU

By Jay Gandy
The Daily Cougar

If it's true that revenge is a dish best served cold, the Cougars will be hoping for chilly weather in Fort Worth when they face Texas Christian at 7:05 p.m. Saturday. 

The last time the two teams met was on Jan. 13, when TCU came into Hofheinz Pavilion and wrested a 55-54 win from the Cougars, who thought they had won the game when a tip-in by TCU appeared to come too late. 

But the officials ruled the shot had come before the buzzer, setting off a mini-firestorm of controversy. 

"When their coach comes up to you and says 'we probably stole one,'" Cougar Head Coach Ray McCallum said, "we're going to fight and we'll set the stage for that."

Back in January, the Cougars were without sophomore forward Aaron Anderson, who has since come back to provide lock-down defense on whomever McCallum asks. In Houston's last game against South Florida on Feb. 21, Anderson forced the Bulls' best offensive player, forward Terrence Leather, into a weak performance. But foul trouble forced Anderson to the bench, allowing Leather to flourish. 

Against the Horned Frogs, Anderson will most likely be asked to shut down Chudi Chinweze, making it important for Anderson to stay out of foul trouble. This is also the case for 7-foot center Anwar Fergusson, who has the ability to blockall shots as long as he's not benched by foul trouble.

The Cougars (9-15) are 3-10 in C-USA, tying them with East Carolina for the 12th and final spot in the C-USA Tournament. ECU will play Saturday at home against South Florida, which has only one conference win, making a win over TCU that much more important for Houston

"It's a rivalry game within Conference USA," McCallum said. "We just came out of two of those situations with Southern Miss and South Florida so we want to win this final one."

Houston should be rested after not playing since the Feb. 21 game against USF, but they hope freshman point guard Lanny Smith has not cooled off. Smith hit a last minute three-pointer to win.

The C-USA Tournament begins March 10 in Cincinnati and will continue until March 13.
 

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