Houston Cougars hammer Utah for 11th straight win

Houston Cougars Kelvin Sampson
Houston beat Utah, 70-36. Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images.

Milos Uzan scored 14 points, L.J. Cryer added 13 points and No. 7 Houston routed Utah 70-36 on Wednesday night for its 11th straight win.

J’Wan Roberts had 11 points and Terrance Arceneaux scored 10 points for the Cougars (15-3, 7-0 Big 12). Houston won its 33rd consecutive home game, which is the longest active streak in the nation.

Houston shot 43% from the field and was 5 of 18 on 3-pointers.

Gabe Madsen scored eight points and Keanu Dawes added seven points and nine rebounds for Utah (11-7, 3-4), which had its three-game winning streak snapped. The Utes shot 30% from the field and were 5 of 17 on 3-pointers.

Takeaways

Utah: The Utes had issues with Houston’s defense throughout. Utah had issues shooting the ball as Houston double and triple-teamed on defense.

Houston: The Cougars were playing without second leading scorer Emanuel Sharp, who sat out with a boot on his right foot. Even without Sharp, Houston did not miss a beat and scored at will both inside and outside.

Key moment

Leading 8-5, Cryer made a jumper with 16 minutes remaining in the first half to spark an 18-0 run. Houston led 41-17 at the half.

Key stat

Houston forced Utah into 26 turnovers and converted them into 29 points. The Cougars held a 19-0 advantage in points off turnovers at the half. Houston finished with just five turnovers.

Up next

Houston travels to No. 12 Kansas on Saturday, and Utah hosts Baylor the same day.

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The Rockets beat the Cavs, 109-108. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

Alperen Sengun made two free throws with 4.5 seconds left and Darius Garland missed two of three free throws after that to allow the Houston Rockets to hold on for a 109-108 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

Fred VanVleet had 26 points as Houston rallied late after squandering a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter.

A flagrant foul by Tari Eason on a 3-point attempt by Garland gave him three free throws with 2.1 seconds left. But he missed the first two before making the third to cut the lead to a point. The Cavaliers had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but Donovan Mitchell’s 3-point attempt was off.

Mitchell missed a shot with less than 10 seconds to go. Sengun grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Jarrett Allen to set up the winning free throws.

Houston led by 13 with about 11 minutes left before the Cavaliers used an 19-0 run to take a 104-98 lead with about four minutes to go.

VanVleet ended a Houston scoring drought of more than seven minutes with a 3 after that and tied it at 104-104 with another 3-pointer on the next possession.

Garland led the the NBA-leading Cavaliers with 26 points. They they lost on the road for just the fifth time this season.

Takeaways

Cavaliers: Cleveland missed the rebounding of Evan Mobley, who averages 8.8 rebounds a game and missed his third straight game with a calf injury. The Cavs were outrebounded 53-45.

Rockets: Must avoid scoring droughts like they had Wednesday night if they expect to keep winning games against good teams.

Key moment

Garland missing the first two of his three free throws that would have put Cleveland on top.

Key stat

The Cavaliers missed six free throws, including the two by Garland late.

Up next

The Cavaliers visit the 76ers on Friday night before hosting the Rockets on Saturday night in Houston’s next game.

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