Houston @ Liberty preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 21, 2016 ) Liberty 54, Houston 77

Despite a career-high 37 points from Rob Gray on Friday, Houston was relegated to the losers' bracket at the Paradise Jam in Lynchburg, Va., where it will play host Liberty on Saturday. Gray came out of his one-game suspension hot, scoring 15 points in the first 11 minutes, but the Cougars couldn't put the game away and now must beat the Flames for a chance at fourth place.

Gray, the leading scorer in the American Athletic Conference a season ago, made six of his first seven field goal attempts, including all three 3-pointers, but didn't get much help, particularly in the second half, when the Cougars were outscored 46-35 en route to an 84-80 defeat. Coach Kelvin Sampson may have to think about shaking up his starting lineup after three starters - Breaon Brady, Corey Davis, Jr. and Wes VanBeck - combined to go 2-of-17 from the field and 0-of-11 from behind the arc. Perhaps reinserting Armoni Brooks, who had eight points off the bench after scoring 22 in the season opener, will do the trick. The Flames also saw their strong start, which included a surprising win at Wake Forest, done in by poor shooting in their 63-48 loss to Mercer on Friday, but will get a chance to avenge last season's 77-54 loss to the Cougars.

TV: Noon ET, No TV

ABOUT HOUSTON (1-1): Nura Zanna can be a solid player for the Cougars, provided he can stay on the court. After logging only nine minutes while scoring one point and committing four fouls in the season opener, the senior forward from Nigeria had seven points and a team-high nine rebounds against Drexel before fouling out after playing 22 minutes. Devin Davis nearly recorded a double-double Friday with 10 points and eight rebounds, but he also fouled out as the Cougars finished with 24 team fouls, resulting in 31 free throws for Drexel.

ABOUT LIBERTY (2-1): Lovell Cabbil was once again the best player for the Flames, but like his counterpart Gray, he was forced to do it all by himself against Mercer. The junior guard scored 15 points and has now scored in double figures in all three games this season to match his longest streak from last season. One game after grabbing 14 rebounds in a 13-point victory over Wake Forest, Scottie James had a team-high six of the Flames' 23 boards against the Bears.

TIP-INS

1. The tournament was moved to the Vines Center on the Liberty campus because of hurricane damage at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

2. Gray's previous career-high was 31 points, which he achieved twice as a sophomore.

3. Zanna, who has averaged better than 3.5 fouls per game for his career, put up 9.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per contest last season for LIU Brooklyn.

PREDICTION: Houston 80, Liberty 72