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Volume 72, Issue 111,
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Sports One upset Victory Away by CHRIS ELLIOTT
The Cougars did everything in their power to try and earn a postseason tournament berth. Their roller coaster ride of a campaign, however, came to an abrupt halt halfway up the final ascent. Houston advanced to the Conference USA Tournament Championship Game by racing past Southern Miss and Rice, but C-USA's unstoppable force -- known as the Memphis Tigers -- refused to relinquish the title as the conference's top gun, giving UH a 71-59 thrashing. UH finished the season with an 18-15 record, enough to give head coach Tom Penders his third consecutive winning season as the man in charge. But in the eyes of both the NCAA and National Invitational Tournament selection committees, 18-15 in a mid-major conference does not merit an at-large bid. It seemed as though the basketball gods were against the Cougars from the start. All-Conference USA point guard and senior leader Lanny Smith broke his right big toe in a summer pick-up game. He only played in four games before electing to take a medical redshirt. The Cougars soon found themselves buried in a 6-foot-deep hole in the ground after starting the season off 6-9. UH quickly turned it around, though, guided by the
leadership and clutch play of junior guard Robert "Fluff" McKiver, senior
guard Oliver Lafayette and senior forward Jahmar "Dunk Master Flex" Thorpe.
The Cougars finished the season by winning 12 of their final six games.
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