National Basketball Association
Houston 66, Tulane 60
When: 6:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 12, 2015
Where: XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Officials:
# Duke Edsall, # Brent Hampton, # Gerry Pollard
Attendance:
983
By SportsDirect Inc.
Houston 66, Tulane 60: Jherrod Stiggers hit five 3-pointers on the way to 23 points as the 10th-seeded Cougars knocked off seventh-seeded Tulane in the opening round of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Hartford, Conn.
Cavon Baker came off the bench to score all of his career-high 20 points over the last 11 minutes for Houston (13-18), which will play second-seeded Tulsa in Friday’s quarterfinals. Devonta Pollard added 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Cougars, who have won four straight.
Payton Henson hit 6-of-8 from the floor for 14 points for Tulane (15-16) while Jay Hook and Louis Dabney each had 13 points. The Green Wave forced 17 turnovers but were outrebounded 36-25 and went 5-of-14 from the foul line.
Stiggers made two 3-pointers and a jumper to power a 13-3 run that gave Houston a 26-17 lead with four minutes left in the first half. Hook answered with back-to-back triples and Dabney's jumper pulled Tulane within 28-25 by halftime.
Jonathan Stark's 3-pointer cut the lead to two and Dylan Osetkowski tied the game at 36-36 with a free throw with 13 minutes left, but Houston answered with a 15-3 run featuring 12 straight points from Baker for a 51-39 lead with eight minutes left. Baker stopped a 7-0 Tulane run with a putback dunk with less than three minutes left and Tulane had a chance late thanks to a flagrant foul but was unable to convert.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Baker was called for a flagrant foul for tripping a Tulane player after a turnover with 22 seconds left and a four-point lead. Kajon Mack hit just one of the free throws and the Green Wave missed the ensuing 3-pointer. ... Houston, entered the game leading the AAC with 8.1 made 3-pointers, went 9-of-23 from the arc. ... Houston played with seven scholarship players and had no points off the bench until Baker's 6-of-7 shooting performance in the second half.
Top Game Performances
| Houston |
|
Tulane |
|
Jherrod Stiggers 23 |
Scoring |
Payton Henson 14 |
|
Devonta Pollard 5 |
Assists |
Jonathan Stark 7 |
|
LeRon Barnes 7 |
Rebounds |
Jay Hook 7 |
|
Cavon Baker 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Louis Dabney 1 |
|
LeRon Barnes 2 |
Steals |
Louis Dabney 3 |
|
Danrad Knowles 1 |
Blocks |
N/A |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Houston
|
66 |
47.8 |
9-23 |
13-15 |
13 |
33 |
2 |
3 |
17 |
| Tulane
|
60 |
41.1 |
9-25 |
5-14 |
13 |
24 |
0 |
8 |
8 |
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