Field Level Media
Feb 9, 2020
Five Houston players scored in double figures, led by Quentin Grimes' 14 points, and the No. 25 Cougars clobbered cold-shooting Wichita State, 76-43, in an American Athletic Conference game Sunday at Houston.
The victory put the Cougars (19-5, 9-2 AAC) into first place in the conference standings. Cincinnati (15-8, 8-3) is in second and Tulsa (15-8, 7-3) is in third.
DeJon Jarreau, coming off one-game suspension, had 12 points and seven rebounds for Houston. Caleb Mills and Marcus Sasser each had 11 points and Nate Hinton finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Wichita State (17-6, 5-5) is on a three-game losing streak.
The Shockers, who made only 26.4 percent of their shots from the field, were led by Dexter Dennis' 10 points. The Shockers made only 2 of 24 shots from 3-point range.
Houston dominated from the start, building a 15-point lead 12 minutes into the game. The Cougars' lead grew to 21 points in the first half before they led 38-18 at the break.
The Shockers, coming off consecutive last-second losses against Tulsa and Cincinnati, did not make a 3-pointer in the first half (0 of 10) and shot 25 percent overall.
Grimes topped Houston with 10 points at the half. Jarreau had eight points on 4-for-5 shooting in the first half. He also had five rebounds.
Jarreau was suspended by the team and did not play against Tulane after he bit a Cincinnati player on the leg last week.
Dennis led Wichita State with five points in the first half. He made a 3-pointer with 16:12 left in regulation to put him in double-figures with 10 points. The shot cut Houston's lead to 44-26. The Cougars scored the next 12 points to put the game away.
Houston also outrebounded Wichita State 44-30, which led to 11 second-chance points and 34 points in the paint.
--Field Level Media