No. 10 Houston forces 19 turnovers in win over Cincinnati
Milos Uzan scored 16 points, 14 of them in the second half, to lead a balanced attack, and No. 10 Houston's defense dominated throughout in 76-54 win over visiting Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon in a Big 12 Conference clash.
The Cougars (19-2, 7-1 Big 12) pulled away with a mid-first half run, led by 12 points at halftime. In the second half, that increased that lead to 26 after a layup by Uzan with 9:15 to play. Houston then cruised to the finish to win its second straight game.
Emanuel Sharp, Chris Cenac Jr., and Isiah Harwell added 13 points apiece for Houston, which led by as many as 30 points. The Cougars forced 19 turnovers, converting them into 26 points. Conversely, they had just four turnovers in the victory.
Jalen Celestine led Cincinnati (11-11, 3-6 Big 12) with 15 points. Keyshuan Tillery had 14 for the Bearcats, who have dropped three of their past four games. The Bearcats had to make six of their final eight shots to get to 38.3% shooting from the floor for the game.
Houston led just 14-8 after a pair of free throws by Kingston Flemings nine minutes into the game. Cincinnati finally found its legs and trimmed its deficit to 16-13 after a jumper by Celestine with eight minutes to play before halftime.
The Cougars then created some separation with an 8-0 run highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers by Cenac, the second at the 5:17 mark of the half. Cenac added another jumper from beyond the arc a minute and a half later to push Houston's advantage to 12 points.
A 3-pointer and a jumper in the lane by Mercy Miller, the latter with 1:12 left in the half, stoked the Cougars' lead to 14 before a pair of free throws by Tillery sent the game to the break with Houston up 32-20.
Cenac's 13 points before halftime led all scorers while Jizzle James paced the Bearcats' anemic attack with just five points at the half.
The Cougars upped the intensity early in the second half, forging a 9-3 run over the first three and a half minutes that was punctuated by Flemings' 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 41-23, all but derailing any chance of a Cincinnati comeback.