Sports
 

Cougar offense is still MIA

By Jay Gandy
The Daily Cougar

Houston still can't find a way a to consistently win in Conference USA, and the team had no answers for the superior inside play of the Blue Demons.

The Cougars fought hard all game, but their effort wasn't quite enough as DePaul left Hofheinz Pavilion with a 66-54 win Saturday night.

Nathan Lindstrom/The Daily Cougar

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UH sophomore forward Cedrick Hensley was one of the few bright spots in Houston's offense Saturday. Hensley scored nine points in the 66-54 loss to DePaul.

UH led throughout much of the game, but a 9-0 DePaul run early in the second half proved too much to overcome. Blue Demon senior All-American candidate Delonte Holland caught fire in the middle of the run, at times seemingly unable to miss a shot. He led all scorers with 19 points on eight-of-14 shooting from the field.

"He's going to maybe be the Conference Player of the Year if they win this thing," UH head coach Ray McCallum said. "He made tough shots. We were right there with a hand in his face challenging, but he made them."

The Cougars began the game hot, as they have done many times this season, with freshman point guard Lanny Smith knocking down a pair of three pointers early. They took their biggest lead of the game at 21-17 after sophomore forward Ramon Dyer followed up a missed shot with a dunk, but Houston still trailed 32-29 at halftime.

As they have all season, the Cougars played solid defense for all 40 minutes. DePaul head coach Dave Leitao was impressed.

"This game today was the hardest we've been guarded defensively in a long time," Leitao said. "They do a really good job of cutting off driving lanes, and they have a great shot-blocker (senior center Anwar Ferguson) in the middle. They made us really work today."

Anwar had his fourth double-double of the season for the Cougars, scoring 10 points and collecting 13 rebounds. The nation's second-leading shot-blocker also managed to avoid foul trouble in the game, something he had been unable to do in the Cougars' last three games. Smith and junior guard Andre Owens each scored 11 points to lead the Cougars.

DePaul's front court trio of Holland, Quemont Greer, and Andre Brown accounted for 51 of DePaul's 66 points and combined for 24 rebounds. Brown, who was last week's C-USA's Player of the Week, scored 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds.

"Their front line was a major challenge for us," McCallum said. "I thought we did a great job on their perimeter guys and keeping pressure on the ball. We were in good position defensively, those guys on the inside just hit shots."

The Cougars must now travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., to take on Southern Miss, where they will be looking for some payback. In their last meeting Feb. 3, Houston lost a heartbreaker 75-72 in triple overtime in Hofheinz Pavilion. Southern Miss is coming off a loss Friday night to a South Florida team that had yet to win a C-USA game.

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