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Sports

Pirates forced to walk plank

Four UH players score in double figures as Houston routes East Carolina on Saturday

by CHRIS ELLIOTT
The Daily Cougar

UH junior forward Tafari Toney flashed to the basket and snatched the ball in mid air with enough time to cock it back and throw it down over 6-8 East Carolina forward Grant Blair. Toney landed with a snarl, pumped his chest twice before going back on defense. Yeah, it was that kind of game for the Cougars.

They ran through ECU, dominating in all aspects of the game on their way to an 83-59 win at Hofheinz Pavilion Saturday night. That put-back dunk by Toney gave UH a demanding 62-40 lead with 9:17 remaining in the game, and seemed to characterize Houston's night. They got contributions from everywhere.

Four Houston players scored in double figures. Toney, who scored a career-high 14 points and had two blocked shots in 19 minutes off the bench, finished the game one rebound away from a double-double. 

Senior guard Oliver Lafayette had an off shooting night, but had a game- and career-high 10 rebounds and six assists. UH head coach Tom Penders said his team is starting to play its best ball at the right time of the season.

"Well you know it's February and you know our kids are coming together," Penders said. "We've had a lot of things happen to us and a very tough schedule where we could have gotten down. A lot of teams throughout the country that go through those spins and they throw in the towel, and our guys have not."

The Cougars improved to an overall record of 13-10 and a 7-3 Conference USA record with their win over ECU (0-10 C-USA). They've won eight of their last 10 games. Junior guard Robert "Fluff" McKiver, who scored a team-high 23 points said there are two principle reasons for his team's recent success.

"We are playing great defense. I think the reason why we are playing better now is our defense," McKiver said. "We're sharing the ball (on the offensive end). That's the key to everything right now. We are sharing the ball, and everybody is letting their egos go."

UH's defensive effort could only go so far. Though the Cougars forced 17 turnovers and held ECU to less than 60 points, Pirate point guard Darrell Jenkins lit UH up for a game-high 31 points, shooting 8-10 from three-point land.

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