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Sports

Shooting draught leads to Houston's first loss

Cougars blowout Grambling State at Hofheinz Pavilion but come up three points short against Saint Louis Saturday

by CHRIS ELLIOTT
The Daily Cougar

Saint Louis had perfect second half strategy to deliver Houston its first loss and reality check of the season -- pray to God that the Cougars go cold from the field and crash the defensive boards. That tactic accompanied by 49-second half points was enough for the Billikens to extend their record to 4-1 with an 81-78 win at the Scottrade Center.

Houston missed its first nine shots of the second half and could not pull down offensive rebounds to score on second chance opportunities. This series of unfortunate events for the Cougars opened the door for Saint Louis to go a 13-0 run and jump out to a 45-35 lead after trailing by three at the half.

Senior guard Oliver Lafayette put in 14 of his 24 points in the second half of play, but despite the comeback efforts by Lafayette, junior forward Sam Anderson, who ended the night with a season high 18 points, the three-win team could not overcome its slow second half start.

Junior guard Robert Lee had a huge day rebounding even though he shot 5-19 from the floor. The little-big man pulled down a team and season high 17 rebounds to add to his 11 points. 

In Houston's Thanksgiving-eve game, Lee also had a productive night in Houston's 96-61 win over Grambling State, scoring 18 points finishing the game two rebounds away from a double-double at Hofheinz. Houston head coach Tom Penders said he's liked the way Lee has begun to establish his game.

"I have coached a lot of great athletes, but he's a basketball player with some skills," Penders said after the Grambling game. "One of his strengths is three-point shooting, but he just hasn't found his rhythm yet. He's a great offensive rebounder. … I feel every time he gets into the lane, he's going to score or get fouled. He's almost unstoppable."

Junior guard Robert McKiver only managed to put up a season low 14 points on a dire shooting night in Saint Louis, but the team's leading scorer added an additional 25-point or more game to his stat list Wednesday, nailing six three-pointers in a 26-point scoring effort. 

McKiver could not have predicted his team's offensive struggles to start the second half of Saturday's game, and following Wednesday's contest he commented on the team's performance as a whole.

"I think we could have defended a little better, but I think the one thing that will help us in the long run is that nobody got mad when one guy (missed shots)," McKiver said. "We just kept coming back to each other. When we're hot, we're really dangerous. We scored 96 points tonight, and Oliver (Lafayette) didn't hit a lot of shots he normally will. So I feel like we'll be fine." 

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