Feb. 2, 2005

Final Stats

HOUSTON (AP) - The University of Houston men's basketball team jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first two and a half minutes of its game against St. Louis and never looked back as they went on to defeat the Billikens, 63-43, Wednesday night at Hofheinz Pavilion.

Brian Latham and Andre Owens combined to score all nine points as Latham began the game with a jump shot and lay-up. Owens hit a three-point shot from the right wing and made two free throws for his first five points of the night.

After Lanny Smith passed to Sergio de Randamie for a lay-up off a pick and roll play, Latham made a three-point shot from the left wing and Owens added a trey from the left baseline before driving for two lay-ups down the center of the lane to extend Houston's lead to 22-8 with 13:02 left in the first half.

Owens finished the opening period with 19 points and led the Cougars to a 36-24 halftime lead.

In the first 30 seconds of the second half, Owens hit junior forward Ramon Dyer for a three-point basket to extend Houston's lead to 39-24.

After Saint Louis broke Houston's full court press for a dunk by Ian Vouyoukas, Owens scored a three-point basket to give the Cougars their biggest lead at the time, 42-26.

The Billikens closed back to within 11, 42-31, on a dunk shot by Dwayne Brown with 15:41 left to play. That was as close as Saint Louis could get as Englebert Cherrington hit two free throws and Dwight Jones, II, hit a three-point shot to extend Houston's lead to 47-31 with 13:22 left to play.

Saint Louis didn't threaten the rest of the way as Houston pulled away.

The 43 points were the fewest points Houston has allowed this year and the second-fewest points the Billikens have scored this season. Houston's 20-point win was the second highest margin of victory by a Billikens' opponent this year.

In the game, Houston forced 18 turnovers by Saint Louis, and turned them into 22 points. The Cougars also went inside more often during the game as they scored 16 points in the paint.

Owens finished the night with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Lanny Smith added 11 points.

Bryan Latham chipped in with seven points and seven rebounds and Ramon Dyer scored six points while bringing down a game-high 10 rebounds.

The victory was the 999th win for Houston's program and the Cougars will attempt to win their 1,000th game Saturday afternoon when the Houston's plays host to Memphis at 2:00.

The win also improve Houston's record to 13-9 this season and 4-4 in Conference USA this season. Saint Louis fell to 5-15 overall and the Billikens are 3-5 in C-USA this year.