The Cincinnati Bearcats rally back in the second half to end the Houston Cougars' five-game winning streak.
Cougars fall short in loss to the Bearcats
Feb 2, 2020, 6:00 am
The Cincinnati Bearcats rally back in the second half to end the Houston Cougars' five-game winning streak.
The Houston Cougars trailed by two when Cedrick Alley Jr. snagged a rebound off a missed free throw from Brison Gresham. With 10 seconds remaining on the clock, Alley kicked it out to an open Caleb Mills for a potential game-winning basket.
Despite the open look, the shot by the freshman guard clanged off the front of the rim, as the Cincinnati Bearcats took a nail-baiting 64-62 victory over the Cougars, Saturday evening, inside the Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati. With the loss, the Bearcats handed the Cougars their second loss in conference play (17-5, 7-2), while ending Houston's five-game winning streak.
Despite a dominating performance in the first half by the Cougars, Mills' shot was far from the struggles Houston endured late in the second period. With a little over six minutes in the game, Dejon Jarreau drew a technical foul after he allegedly bit Cincinnati's Mamoudou Diarra and was ejected.
After recording 40 points in the first half while shooting 44% from the floor, 46% from deep, the Cougars missed 14 of their final 15 shots from the floor as the Bearcats battled back from a 15-point deficit.
With only two players scoring in double-figures, freshman guard Marcus Sasser led the Cougars with 17 points (6-10 FG, 4-5 3PT), while sophomore, Nate Hinton, added in 16 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds in the loss.
Although he finished the contest tied for a game-high 17 points, senior froward Jarron Cumberland received addition help down the stretch for Cincinnati. Junior guard Keith Williams scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half, while forward Tre Scott registered an all-around double-double of 16 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal in the win.
Following the loss, the Cougars will look to return to their winning ways on Thursday, when Houston takes on the 10-11, 2-7 Tulane Green Wave. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. CT inside the Fertitta Center in Houston.
The Houston Texans have a big challenge in store as they look to start the season with a win against the Colts this Sunday. When these two teams met in Week 2 last year, the Colts dominated the Texans, despite losing their QB Anthony Richardson to a concussion after the first quarter.
Keeping Richardson contained on Sunday will go a long way in increasing the Texans' chances of coming home with a win. The Texans defense will have their hands full containing the Colts backs and tight ends in the passing game.
Scoring touchdowns with their wide receivers could prove difficult, as the Texans allowed the second-fewest TDs (10) to the receiver position in 2023.
Limiting running back Jonathan Taylor will also be a top priority. While the Texans had an elite defense against the run last season, they struggled with Taylor in Week 18 as he almost rushed for 200 yards.
Houston's D allowed only four carries to running backs in 2023 that went for 20 or more yards. Two of which were to Taylor in the final game of the regular season.
Finally, DeMeco Ryans and company have to find a way to get pressure on the QB. They only had one QB hit and zero sacks on Richardson and Garner Minshew the first time they faced off last year.
On offense, the Texans have two big x-factors to watch for on Sunday. The offensive line that suited up to play the Colts in Week 2 last season is completely different from this year.
The o-line was ravaged with injuries to start the 2023 campaign, so we expect a big jump in productivity in the trenches this year.
Another big addition in 2024 is the presence of running back Joe Mixon. The running game only produced 2 yards per rush in Week 2 against Indy last year, so there's clearly room for improvement.
Be sure to watch the video above for our in-depth preview of Texans-Colts!
And catch Texans on Tap (a Texans podcast) live on our SportsMapTexans YouTube channel following every game this season!