The Houston Cougars dropped their final road game of the regular season in a loss to the UConn Huskies.
Cougars fall short in loss to the Huskies
Mar 5, 2020, 11:28 pm
Kelvin Sampson. Bob Levey/Getty Images
The No. 21 Houston Cougars held a seven-point lead over the UConn Huskies at the half but was unable to carry their momentum over to the final 20 minutes. UConn outscored Houston 47-34 in the second half en route to a 77-71 victory over the Cougars, Thursday night, inside the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Mansfield, Connecticut.
In the loss, the Cougars dropped their final road game of the regular season, as they fell to 12-5 (22-8 overall) in conference play.
While falling into a tie for second place in the American Athletic Conference, sophomore guard Quentin Grimes led the way for the Cougars with 24 points (9-22 FG, 4-9 3PT) and six rebounds in the loss.
Houston came out the gates firing on all cylinders, as the Cougars opened the game on a 5-0 run before missing 10 consecutive shots from the field. UConn took full advantage of the Cougars' early struggles scoring 16 points unanswered en route to an early 11-point lead.
Tough one in Connecticut tonight NEXT – vs Memphis | Senior Day | 11 am Sunday, March 8 | Fertitta Center Join us… https://t.co/k1u49wrUHd— Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾 (@Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾) 1583461250.0
Despite a slow start, Houston battled back from their early deficit following a made 3-point field by Caleb Mills, as the Cougars held a 37-30 lead heading into the halftime break.
Although the Cougars closed out the first half on a hot streak, the Huskies went on a 15-2 run to take full control of the game. UConn shot 57.6% from the floor during the second half, as senior guard Christian Vital led the Huskies with 26 points (8-14) in his final home game of his college career.
In the loss, Caleb Mills recorded 20 points (6-15 FG, 2-4 3PT), while Nate Hinton added in 11 to go along with five rebounds and two steals.
In their final attempt to wrap up the top seed in the AAC, the Cougars will look to return to their winning ways on Sunday, when Houston takes on the 21-9, 10-7 Memphis Tigers. Tip-off is slated for 11 a.m. CT inside the Fertitta Center in Houston.
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The Texas Longhorns still believe in quarterback Quinn Ewers despite two poor games from the third-year starter who was briefly benched in last week's loss to No. 1 Georgia, coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday.
Ewers struggled through one of his worst career games against the Bulldogs, completing 25 of 43 passes for 211 yards with an interception and two fumbles. He was 6-of-12 passing for 17 yards on the Longhorns' first six drives, and was replaced by Arch Manning in the second quarter as Georgia took a 23-0 lead into halftime.
Ewers returned in the third quarter and led two touchdown drives. But the overall performance in one of the biggest games of the season was well below what was expected from a veteran quarterback who some predict as a potential first round NFL draft pick.
Texas never led against the Bulldogs and Ewers looked rattled.
Sarkisian has insisted that Ewers remains the No. 1 quarterback going forward.
“We have confidence and belief in him,” Sarkisian said. “I think he's going to come out and play really good football for us here in the second half of the season.”
Texas (6-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) plays at No. 25 Vanderbilt (5-2, 2-1) on Saturday.
Ewers did not meet with reporters on Monday.
He had performed at his best in some of Texas' biggest games the previous two seasons. He was considered a likely Heisman Trophy contender after the Longhorns won at defending national champion Michigan in week two.
But he was sidelined by an abdomen strain in the first half a week later against UTSA, and the injury knocked him out of the next two games. He returned for Texas' 34-3 win over Oklahoma, but had just 199 yards and one touchdown passing and said he needed to play better.
Against Georgia, Ewers appeared hesitant against a fierce Bulldogs pass rush and missed several throws. The Bulldogs recorded seven sacks and Texas never led.
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck was arguably having an even worse game. He was 23-of-41 passing for 175 yards and three interceptions.
But after Texas cut the Georgia lead to 23-15, Beck answered by leading the Bulldogs on an 11-play, 89-yard drive to the final touchdown of the game.
“I think Quinn definitely can play better. We've got to continue to work on his pocket presence,” Sarkisian said. “But I also think we need to play better around him. You know, our offense isn't about one player playing well.”
Texas rushed for just 29 yards and and managed only 259 total yards of offense against Georgia.
Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. said the Longhorns will rally behind Ewers.
“We're always going to trust Quinn. We're always going to believe in Quinn,” Banks said.