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Sports

Victory propels Cougars to semifinals

Houston to play Rice for shot at C-USA title game 

by CHRIS ELLIOTT
The Daily Cougar

Southern Miss guard Craig Craft's shot hit the front rim as time expired and UH slipped out with a 62-59 victory in its Conference USA quarterfinal game on Thursday at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. 

Craft's potential game-tying three-pointer was made possible after UH junior guard Marcus Malone missed the second of two free-throw shots with 9.2 seconds remaining in the contest. Southern Miss guard Courtney Beasley grabbed the rebound, pushed it up the court and the Golden Eagles found enough time to run a hand-off play for Craft.

UH (17-14) managed to hold on for the win and reward junior guard Robert "Fluff" McKiver with a trip to the semifinal round, where the Cougars will face crosstown rival Rice at 6 p.m. today.

McKiver (28 points) was the Cougars' primary source of offense for the majority of Thursday's game, until junior guard Marcus Malone joined the fray. Malone scored 20 points in 31 minutes off the bench.

The Golden Eagles (20-11) applied more defensive pressure on McKiver midway through the second half, making it tough for him to get shots off or receive the ball. Malone picked up the slack by draining two three-pointers down the stretch to keep the Cougars one step ahead of Southern Miss. 

Earlier this week, UH head coach Tom Penders said, for once, he would like to see four people step up offensively in the same game. His wish wasn't granted on Thursday, but McKiver and Malone carried the offensive load en route to scoring approximately 77 percent of the team's points against Southern Miss.

The Cougars will have one more shot against Rice, which finished 1-1 against the Cougars in the regular season.

UH and Rice couldn't win on each other's home court earlier this season, but this time, they'll be playing on a neutral floor. And this time, the two teams are playing not only for bragging rights, but also for the chance to play in the C-USA championship game.

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