Freshman guard Caleb Mills scored 22 of his career-best 27 points in the second half to lead the Cougars to a win.
Cougars' second-half surge leads to blowout win over Tulsa
Feb 20, 2020, 12:09 am
Freshman guard Caleb Mills scored back-to-back field goals to extend the Houston Cougars' halftime lead to 11 coming out of the break. His hot start to the second half gave way to a 22-point explosion, as the Cougars took a 76-43 victory over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, Wednesday night, inside the Fertitta Center in Houston. Following a one-point overtime loss to SMU on Saturday, the Cougars improve to 11-3 (21-6 overall) in conference play.
After averaging 5.0 points shooting 12% from the field over the previous two games, it was a complete 180 turnaround for Mills, as he ended the night with a career-best 27 points shooting 56.2% from the floor, 55% from behind the arc.
"I give all the credit to my teammates," Mills said after the win. "When I came into this game, I did not want to settle for 3's because my shot has been off over the past few games. Once my teammates helped me get going from the mid-range, everything else came easy for me."
Count 'em. 27 points for @calebmills_3. UH 62, Tulsa 38 (6:13/2H) #ForTheCity x #GoCoogs https://t.co/wQgiVU5NlH— Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾 (@Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾) 1582171046.0
Despite the final score, the first half did not go as planned for the Cougars. After opening the game shooting 50% as a team, Houston was fortunate to hold a six-point lead at the half (26-20), as the Cougars went on to miss 11 of their next 13 shot attempts.
During the second half, UH build of their 7-0 run to close the first period en route to their 33-point win. Houston outscored Tulsa 50-23 in the final period, as sophomore guard Nate Hinton added 15 points to go along with six rebounds.
"We had our fair share of struggles throughout the year, especially with our play coming out of the second half, and it cost us some games this season," Hinton said. "We had to stay with an aggressive mindset and keep the defensive intensity going until that final buzzer sound."
In the loss, Martins Igbanu led the Golden Hurricane with 15 points, while Jeriah Horne added in 12 points and seven rebounds.
Following the win, the Cougars moved back into sole possession of first place in the American Athletic Conference standings, with Cincinnati falling at home to Central Florida on Wednesday.
Up next, the Cougars will travel to Memphis to take on the 18-8, 7-6 Memphis Tigers, Sunday, inside the FedExForum. Tip-off is slated for 1 P.M. CT.
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.