National Basketball Association
Houston 71, Abilene Christian 59
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 6, 2014
Where: Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, Texas
Officials:
# Ray Natili, # Archibald Whaley, # Olandis Poole
Attendance:
2007
By SportsDirect Inc.
Houston 71, Abilene Christian 59: Jherrod Stiggers made a career-high six 3-pointers and scored a career-best 23 points as the Cougars survived against the visiting Wildcats.
Stiggers went 6-of-10 from beyond the arc and added five assists and Devonta Pollard notched his second straight double-double with a career-high 22 points to go with 10 rebounds for Houston (4-1). Eric Weary Jr. supplied 15 points for the Cougars, who had nearly as many 3-point field goals (10) as two-pointers (12).
Parker Wentz had four 3-pointers and scored 18 points for Abilene Christian (3-4), which shot 32.8 percent from the field. LaDarrien Williams was 6-of-15 from the field and scored 15 points to go with five rebounds for the Wildcats.
The teams came out and tossed up 3-point attempts early and often, but it was Houston that found more success during the opening 10 minutes. Pollard and Weary each hit two triples as the Cougars fashioned a 20-15 lead and Wentz and Stiggers exchanged a pair before Pollard made the final two buckets to send Houston into halftime with a 33-25 advantage.
Houston tried to pull away in the second half, taking its largest lead at 45-34 on two free throws by Stiggers with 13:20 remaining. The Wildcats fought back to cut the deficit to two points eight minutes later but couldn't sustain the rally as they scored just two points in the final five minutes.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The teams combined to go 8-of-29 on 3-pointers and 12-of-29 from inside the arc in the first half. ... Stiggers finished 0-of-3 from inside the arc for Houston, which shot 44 percent. ... LeRon Barnes had nine rebounds for Houston, while Christian Albright had 10 and Austin Cooke had nine for Abilene Christian.
Top Game Performances
| Abilene Christian |
|
Houston |
|
Parker Wentz 18 |
Scoring |
Jherrod Stiggers 23 |
|
Jalen Little 4 |
Assists |
Jherrod Stiggers 5 |
|
Christian Albright 10 |
Rebounds |
Devonta Pollard 10 |
|
Parker Wentz 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Devonta Pollard 6 |
|
Christian Albright 1 |
Steals |
LeRon Barnes 1 |
|
Christian Albright 1 |
Blocks |
Egi Gjikondi 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Abilene Christian
|
59 |
32.8 |
8-31 |
7-8 |
14 |
31 |
2 |
4 |
10 |
| Houston
|
71 |
44.0 |
10-22 |
17-23 |
15 |
37 |
7 |
3 |
11 |
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