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Sports

UH has last laugh at Central Florida

Grudge match results in Houston win, extends Cougars' winning streak to longest in six years

by CHRIS ELLIOTT
The Daily Cougar

If by some chance the Cougars have a hit list containing their remaining Conference USA opponents, Central Florida would no longer be on it. Houston took out the Golden Knights 78-71 in yesterday's critical road game.

"We started out kind of slow in the first half," head coach Tom Penders said in a phone interview. "But the second half was ours. We knocked down the shots when we needed to."

With their latest win, Houston improves to 17-6 on the season with a 7-3 conference record. The Cougars also notched their seventh consecutive victory, marking the team's longest winning streak in the past six years.

"We don't have the time to think about that right now," Penders said. "It's late in the season, and we've got to keep winning if we want to make it." 

Junior guard Lanny Smith scored a team high 25 points in the eight-point victory over the only conference opponent to beat the Cougars on their home court this season. 

By halftime, Smith had already amassed 14 points on UCF. Smith also dished out nine assists and was credited for three steals in his 38 minutes of play. 

"Lanny Smith definitely was the standout player of the game," Penders said. "We used him as the two guard and will probably do that for the rest of the year. He's produced."

Penders has recently had success with his forward rotation of Jamar Thorpe, Sam Anderson and Ramon Dyer. The trio combined for 29 points for the contest. Dye put up 11 points and would come up one rebound short of a double-double, while Thorpe led the group with 12 points to go along with his four rebounds. Anderson was only able to play 14 minutes for UH due to early foul trouble, but would score six points, which included four free throws in a perfect outing at the charity stripe.

"We rotated between Jamar, Sam and Lanny during the game, and they each gave us great efforts," Penders said.

After converting 3-9 shots from downtown, Junior guard Oliver Lafayette was able to contribute 15 points to Houston's winning cause. The nation's sixth-place leader in steals was also able to pad his stats in his department of expertise, picking up four thefts for the game.

UH's next game will be against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at 7 p.m Saturday at Hofheinz Pavilion.

"I'm sure the team is going to be focused and ready to play hard in Saturday's game," Penders said.
 

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