Student Publications
University of Houston
151C Communications Bldg
Houston, TX 77204-4015
713.743.5350

©1991-2007
Student Publications,
All rights reserved.

Last modified:

Contact:
ktruitt@uh.edu

Sports

Team effort not enough

McKiver racks up 32 points in losing effort, but teammates held silent

by CHRIS ELLIOTT
The Daily Cougar

UH junior guard Robert "Fluff" McKiver put on a one-man show in the FedEx Forum against Associated Press No. 7 Memphis.

However, in most cases it takes five to win on the hardwood. The Cougars found out the hard way in their 77-64 loss to Memphis Sunday afternoon that even Superman needs help every once in a while.

McKiver scored 32 points on 13-of-28 shooting, but the rest of the Cougars could only manage to convert 11-of-30 field goal attempts.

"If everybody had the heart that he had or the competitive spirit that he has, we'd be locked up in the NCAA Tournament," UH head coach Tom Penders said. "He's improved in so many areas of his game, and some nights he has to play Superman. Today he was Superman. They are a very good defensive team, and they were keying on him and leaving other guys open. Basically, no one else stepped up." 

With the loss, the Cougars fell to 15-13 and are now tied with UCF for second place in Conference USA with a 9-5 record. The Tigers (25-3, 14-0 C-USA) improved their NCAA leading win streak to 17 games and remain undefeated in conference play.

Sunday's game began with both teams on an even footing before Memphis went to full-court pressure with about 10 minutes to go in the first half and the game tied at 18. 

UH could not handle the Tigers' defensive intensity and a game that had been close turned ugly for the Cougars earlier than they wanted it to. They turned the ball over six times in the latter half of the first period and allowed the Tigers to capitalize by closing out the half on a 19-5 run.

"That was critical. That was the only real run they made in the game," Penders said. "They scored on every one of the turnovers. But we still hung in there and didn't fold." 

The Cougars would not recover from that first-half run, but McKiver did everything in his power to ensure the outcome ended in a respectable manner for his team. McKiver capped a personal 12-3 run against Memphis with a 24-foot jumper to cut UH's deficit to 51-42 with 12:30 remaining in the second half. 

Junior forward Tafari Toney, who finished with nine points and six rebounds, got his first start of the season and saw an extended amount of playing time, as Penders looked to the 6-foot-8-inch, 241-pound forward to slow down Memphis' titan in the paint, Joey Dorsey, who's made his fair share of poster boys out of UH players in the past. 

"Toney played hard; he competed and he rebounded," Penders said. "We were going to play him one-on-one with Dorsey so that Jeremy Hunt (14 points) and guys like that didn't go wild from the perimeter."

The strategy seemed to work in the early stages of the first half. The Cougars played the lanes, pressed up on the ball handlers and left Dorsey and his 6-foot-10-inch, 260-pound frame to Toney, who held his own. 

Dorsey was held to two points in the first 13 minutes of the game, but would finish with 16 points and 10 rebounds, thanks to his team's ability to force Houston into 16 turnovers and the ability of Chris Douglas-Roberts to score and create shots for teammates off the dribble.

Douglas-Roberts drove to the paint early and often, taking advantage of the Cougars' smaller and less athletic guards. During one sequence in the first half, he stripped Dowell of the ball while the Cougars were attempting to set up their half-court offense, drove the length of the court and threw it down with two hands. In the process, Douglas-Roberts posterized Dowell, who just so happened to be running underneath him at the time of the dunk and picked up two of his team-high 19 points.

Send comments to dcsports@mail.uh.edu