Houston built an 11-point second-half lead, and then every time Virginia edged closer, the Cougars answered with a big three – three of them – to win Saturday’s Clash of the Titans in JPJ, 69-61.
The second-ranked Cavaliers (8-1) bolted to a 9-0 lead in the opening four minutes, but Houston (11-1), after missing its first six from the field, started running efficient offense, connecting on 13 of its final 21 from the floor to go into the break up four, 30-26.
A 10-4 UH run out of the locker room pushed the margin to 10 and forced a rare Tony Bennett reset timeout at the 16:03 mark.
From there, the Cougars would keep UVA at arm’s length.
A Kihei Clark pickpocket at halfcourt led to a fast-break layup that got the margin down to six, at 54-48, with 4:06 left.
Virginia got a stop, and then coming out of the under-4 media timeout, Bennett drew up a play to get Isaac McKneely an open three, which rimmed out.
That one was Virginia’s best chance to get closer.
A Jamal Shead driving layup pushed the margin back to eight, and Kadin Shedrick answered with a dunk on a nice dish from Reece Beekman to get it back to six, at 56-50, with 2:54 left.
Tramon Mark provided the dagger, connecting for three from the wing on a drive-and-dish by Jarace Walker.
The three made it 59-50 Houston with 2:30 to go, and Virginia would get no closer than eight the rest orf the way.
Analysis
Houston was just a step quicker, perhaps a function of not having taken an 11-day break for final exams, who knows.
The Cougars had played two games since Virginia’s last time out, a 55-50 win over JMU on Dec. 6.
UH shot 49.0 percent from the floor (25-of-51) and was 8-of-21 from three (38.1 percent), though it seemed like the Cougs hit every big shot down the stretch.
Walker, a 6’8” freshman, paced four Houston players in double-figures with 17 points (6-of-11 FG, 2-of-3 3FG).
Marcus Sasser had 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting (3-of-10 3FG) for Houston.
Shedrick led Virginia with 16 points (7-of-8 FG). Jayden Gardner had 13 points (4-of-8 FG, 5-of-6 FT) and six rebounds.
Clark had nine points and eight assists, and Beekman, in his first game back from ankle and hamstring injuries that forced him out of the JMU game after the opening minutes, had four points and five assists, a quiet afternoon for him.
Ben Vander Plas had a miserable day – missing all seven of his shot attempts, six of them threes, contributing just an assist in 17 floor minutes.
Virginia shot 41.7 percent from the floor (20-of-48).
The ‘Hoos hit seven of their last 10 from the field in the final 6:04.
The media row seating chart listed scouts from nine NBA teams in attendance – the Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards.
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Chris Graham
