LJ Cryer and Milos Uzan combined for 26 points when the sixth ranked Houston Cougars claimed a victory 76-65 over the visiting Baylor Bears on Monday.
Cougars (20-4, 12-1 Big 12) negated Bears’ strong shooting by getting 28 points on 15 Baylor turnover. Baylor (15-9, 7-6) handed over a 10-3 blast to open the second half and never recovered his foot, when Houston extended to a 25-point lead after a short flurry of Baylor forward Norchad Omier pulled the bears inside within 54-45 halfway through the second half.
Emanuel Sharp drilled a corner 3-pointer and Uzan followed a couple of three-point games that extended the lead to 65-46 with 8:02. Cryer got a team high 14 points with four 3 points while Uzan chipped in 12 points and six assists. Terrance Arceneaux recorded 11 points while Sharp and J’wan Roberts got 10 pieces for Cougars, who shot 50.9 percent.
Omier paced the bears with 19 points on 8-for-9 shooting while Langston Love counted 15 points on 5-7 shooting. Freshman VJ Edgecombe published 14 points on 5-for-5-shooting and team heights on six returns, three assists and five sales for Baylor, who shot 57.9 percent but ended with a minus-15 margin in shot attempt.
Baylor started 5-for-5 from the floor but was regretted by three early turnover that Cougars converted to eight points and a lead of 14-12. Houston then grabbed a two-digit advantage with a 10-1 run containing a Mylik Wilson 3-pointer and a Roberts Hook shot that raised the margin to 26-16 at the 7: 53 mark in the first half.
Love ended that rally with a 3-pointer for the bears before Edgecombe suddenly lived with a transition can for his first points with 6:26 left in half. Edgecombe accompanied two more baskets in succession to help Baylor reduce the deficit to 34-27. However, Cougars entered the interruption with a lead of 38-30 despite the fact that the bears shot 57.9 percent during the opening half.
-Field level media
