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Sports

Cougars win from behind the arc

Lafayette and Smith keep Golden Knights grounded 71-52 Thursday

By CHRIS ELLIOTT
The Daily Cougar

With the introduction of the three point line, a fitting adage was also introduced to the sporting world: Teams will live and die by the three. This has been true for the Cougars this season; their 71-52 victory over Central Florida was no exception.

On Houston's second possession of the game, senior guard Latham would penetrate and dish to junior guard Lanny Smith who would knock down the three. 

This would be a trend Houston would follow the entire game. UH hit three shots in a row from downtown, two came via Smith in the first four minutes to propel UH to a 9-0 lead.

Smith would finish the night with a 13-point game while shooting 6 points from downtown. He with junior guard Oliver Lafayette would shoot lights out from downtown. "Not only for myself, but I think it provided a big boost for us," Smith said. "I think that carried over into the second half."

This played directly into Lafayette's shoot first, ask questions later strategy. Lafayette, known for throwing up close to nine three-pointers per game, entered the game in a funk from downtown. Unfortunately for the Golden Knights, this was not the case last night. Lafayette shot 5-12 from three-point land, and ended the night with 19 points and four rebounds. He would leave the game early after going down with a leg cramp, but Lafayette is probable for tonight's game. 

Houston ended the first half up 32-19. As usual, defense was a prime reason, but shooting 6-8 from the three-point line did not hurt either. Smith said after getting put out in the first round last year, the Cougars stayed focused this time around.

"We came out of the gates and everybody was focused so we kept that and closed it out," Smith said.

UH would began the half on a 9-3 run and would lead as much as 21 points in the second half.

They look to even the score 3:30 p.m. today against Memphis who scratched out a 69-62 win over UH less than a week ago. Smith feels the Cougars proved in the first game that they could be among the top five teams in the nation.

"We walked away confident after the last time we played those guys," Smith said. "A lot of our key guys had foul trouble for the majority of the game. Our defense has kept us in every single game this year, and we're planning on doing the same thing tomorrow," Smith said. "I think our offense will be much better this time around so we're confident going into this game." 

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