No. 25 Houston beats Cincinnati, moves into 1st in AAC

No. 25 Houston beats Cincinnati, moves into 1st in AAC

NEWS

News

Modified 02 Mar 2020, 02:31 IST

HOUSTON (AP) — Marcus Sasser scored 21 points, Nate Hinton had 16 and No. 25 Houston beat Cincinnati 68-55 on Sunday.

Sasser, who scored 12 points in the second half, shot 8 of 16, including 5 of 12 on 3-pointers. Caleb Mills added 15 points for Houston (22-7, 12-4 American Athletic Conference), which shot 36%.

The Cougars moved back into a tie atop the American with Tulsa, one game ahead of Cincinnati (18-10, 11-5).

Tre Scott had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Jarron Cumberland added 11 points for the Bearcats, who shot 35% but made just 6 of 25 in the second half.

Houston ended the first half with a 13-1 run behind four points apiece by Mills and Hinton to take a 38-31 lead into halftime. Mills had 12 points at the half.

After the Bearcats closed within 54-49 on a layup by Zach Harvey with seven minutes remaining, Houston answered with a 14-2 run over the next five minutes.

BIG PICTURE

Cincinnati: The Bearcats missed a chance to help their NCAA Tournament resume. Cincinnati beat Houston 64-62 at home on Feb. 1. ... Cincinnati fell to 2-3 this season against ranked opponents.

Houston: The Cougars improved to 7-0 this season after a loss. ... Houston outrebounded Cincinnati 43-32 and held a 13-3 advantage in second-chance points.

BRANNEN COACHES AFTER FATHER’S DEATH

Cincinnati coach John Brannen coached on Sunday after his father, also named John Brannen, died on Saturday. John Brannen said on Twitter that his father died of ALS and dementia. Houston held a moment of silence before the game in memory of the elder John Brannen.

SAMPSON, BRANNEN GET TECHNICALS

Brannen and Houston coach Kelvin Sampson were both issued technical fouls. Brannen got his technical foul with two minutes left in the first half after an offensive foul by Chris Vogt. Brannen had to be restrained by his assistant coaches after officials called the technical. Sampson got a technical with nine minutes remaining in the second half after arguing an offensive foul.

UP NEXT

Cincinnati: At South Florida on Tuesday.

Houston: Visits UConn on Thursday.

Published 02 Mar 2020, 02:31 IST