Sports
 

UH hopes Wave doesn't drown tourney hopes

By Jay Gandy
The Daily Cougar

To call any game a "must-win" is superfluous, but tonight's game in Dixie is as important to the UH men's basketball team as any so far this season.

Houston comes into the game with an 8-12 overall record and a 2-7 record in Conference USA. Tulane is just a half game behind UH in the conference standings at 1-7. For now the Green Wave occupies the 12th and final C-USA Tournament spot.

The Cougars are coming off a 54-51 loss to heavily favored Cincinnati at Hofheinz Pavilion on Saturday, a game in which they played some of their best basketball of the season. Following the game, Houston head coach Ray McCallum was able to see some positives in the loss.

"We took care of the basketball when we needed to," McCallum said. "We didn't back down, the way we out-rebounded Cincinnati, and that's just heart. Our guys play with a tremendous amount of heart."

Senior Center Anwar Ferguson continues to anchor the Cougar defense inside, averaging 4.4 blocked shots per game, the second-highest average in the nation. He blocked five shots against Cincinnati and was a key missing ingredient late in the game, after foul trouble forced him to miss long stretches of the second half. 

Against Tulane, he will more than likely be asked to shut down sophomore center Quincy Davis, who is among a trio of Green Wave players averaging 10 points a game.

Tulane (8-11 overall) picked up its first conference win of the season Saturday, defeating South Florida 70-65. Sophomore forward Vytautas Tatarunas came off the bench to lead Tulane with 14 points, but may find baskets more difficult to come by against the Cougars. 

Sophomore forward Aaron Anderson has come off the bench in each of the Cougars' last two games to provide lockdown defense on the inside, as well as an uncanny ability to get the offensive rebound following a missed free throw.

"Aaron did a great job defensively and going after the ball," McCallum said. "We did a good job of fighting and we're giving away five inches per man, with the exception of Anwar. It was just a great effort."

Junior guard Andre Owens led the Cougars in scoring for the 12th time this season against Cincinnati, scoring 18 points including, five three-pointers. Bearcat guard Tony Bobbitt said his team knew Owens would be the key.

"You really have to take your hat off to the whole Houston team," Bobbitt said. "We knew we couldn't let players like Owens get going tonight, but he had a great game."

Owens leads UH in scoring with 16.4 points per game, but has been inconsistent with his point production. One never knows if he will score 30 points or three points. 

But he is rock-solid when it comes to defense and crashing the boards. He is also an extra floor-leader, providing experience to complement freshman point guard Lanny Smith's explosiveness.

After the trip to New Orleans the Cougars will return home to face DePaul (13-7, 6-3) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Hofheinz Pavilion.

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