Sports
 

UH buckles down for stretch drive

By Jay Gandy
The Daily Cougar

This is crunch time. 

Houston has four games remaining, and the team is in control of its postseason chances. 

The Cougars will be looking for a sweep of a conference opponent for the first time this season as they take on South Florida at Hofheinz Pavilion on Saturday.

On Jan. 31, the Cougars went to Tampa and beat the Bulls on their home court 65-53, a win that would seem to give the Cougars a psychological advantage heading into Saturday's game. But five straight losses leave them clinging to a tie with East Carolina for the 12th and final Conference USA tournament spot, after East Carolina defeated Tulane on Wednesday.

Back on Jan. 17 most people didn't think much of Houston's 55-53 win over ECU. But it is by virtue of that win that the Cougars hold the tiebreaker over the Pirates if it comes down to that at the end of the season. For now, the Cougars want to get enough wins in their last four games to make the tiebreaker a moot point.

Saturday should be a good chance for the Cougars to add to their win total, as USF has been reduced to seven scholarship players. Since the beginning of the season, the Bulls have dismissed five players from their team, either for academic reasons or violations of team rules.

In UH's last meeting against USF, junior guard Andre Owens and senior guard Anwar Ferguson made up a tough inside-outside scoring duo, each leading the Cougars with 15 points. Houston hopes to have the same kind of scoring balance this time around, by not allowing USF to dominate any individual player. 

Much of that responsibility lies with freshman point guard Lanny Smith, who has become Houston's court general. Smith has shown flashes of brilliance and superb playmaking ability, but he has also been inconsistent and has sometimes fallen short in key situations.

Senior guard Marcus Oliver is coming off a solid game against Southern Miss in which he scored 15 points and shot 50 percent from the field. With Oliver being the only senior the Cougars have who's been around for four years, the rest of the team must rely on him for veteran leadership.

Terrence Leather had a huge game last time against the Cougars, scoring 22 points and pulling down 18 rebounds. He leads the Bulls with averages of 14.7 points and 8.6 rebounds per game this season.

After facing USF, the Cougars have only three games remaining in the regular season, including their home finale against Charlotte on March 3.

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