Seniors Corey Davis Jr. and Breaon Brady combined for 33 points on Senior Night as 12th-ranked Houston clinched a share of its first regular-season conference championship since 1992 with a 90-79 victory over visiting SMU on Thursday.
The Cougars (28-2, 15-2 American Athletic Conference) bounced back from their first home loss in two years by shooting 12 of 29 on 3-point attempts and outflanking the short-handed Mustangs (13-16, 5-12).
SMU, ravaged by injuries, dropped its fourth consecutive game and has lost 9 of 10.
Davis scored 17 points and sank four 3-pointers while Brady added 16 points and six rebounds. Senior guard Galen Robinson Jr. paired 11 points with five assists for Houston, which secured the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament at FedEx Forum in Memphis next week.
Junior guard Armoni Brooks led the Cougars with 20 points, hitting 6 of 10 3-point tries, and grabbed 10 rebounds. Houston finished 19-1 at home.
SMU produced a valiant effort but could not overcome an 11-0 Houston run that stretched the deficit to 57-40 early in the second half. Davis followed a four-point play with a 3-pointer to cap that rally and put the Mustangs in chase mode.
Jahmal McMurray led SMU with 24 points while Ethan Chargois scored 21 and Isiaha Mike 15 with a team-high six rebounds.
The Mustangs offset their brilliant first-half shooting with 13 turnovers prior to the intermission. SMU shot 68.4 percent from the floor, including a scorching 7 of 10 beyond the arc, but the Cougars first established a 27-16 lead on a Nate Hinton jumper at the 8:47 mark and maintained a working margin for the remainder of the half.
Houston converted those SMU turnovers into 21 points and posted a plus-13 advantage on shot attempts before the break.
The Mustangs' lack of depth enabled Houston to produce a 16-0 advantage in first-half bench points. Yet, despite these disadvantages. SMU strung together 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions, two from McMurray, and trailed 46-37 at the half. McMurray had 15 by the break.
--Field Level Media
Southern Methodist | Houston | |
Jahmal McMurray 24 | Scoring | Armoni Brooks 20 |
Nat Dixon 3 | Assists | Galen Robinson Jr. 5 |
Isiaha Mike 6 | Rebounds | Armoni Brooks 10 |
Isiaha Mike 8 | Free Throws Made | Breaon Brady 2 |
Ethan Chargois 1 | Steals | Galen Robinson Jr. 2 |
N/A | Blocks | Armoni Brooks 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Southern Methodist | 79 | 52.2 | 10-19 | 21-26 | 10 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 15 |
Houston | 90 | 53.1 | 12-29 | 10-14 | 19 | 32 | 2 | 6 | 11 |