Feb. 19, 2002

Box Score

Houston, Texas - Coming off their biggest win of the season, the University of Houston had to use an overtime period to defeat Tulane 85-81 in Hofheinz Pavilion Tuesday night.

"This was a big game for us," Houston head coach Ray McCallum said. "We were coming off a huge, emotional win at Memphis, and we had to shift gears quickly to prepare for Tulane."

McCallum was concerned that his team would take the Green Wave lightly after winning, 76-73, at Memphis last Saturday.

"A lot of young teams could have come into this game and lost," McCallum said. "We also could have hung our heads when the game went into overtime. But, our guys came through making big plays and getting enough stops to win."

The Cougars took control of the game early and held a 29-22 lead with 5:35 left in the first half. But the Green Wave closed the half with a 15-7 run and took a 37-36 lead into halftime.

"Tulane got into a rhythm by moving the ball around and got us standing around at the end of the first half," McCallum said. "We made some adjustments and came out attacking their zone defense in the second half."

The Cougars appeared to be in control of the game again in the second half as they opened up a 56-47 with 13:29 left to play.

Tulane stormed back again as the Green Wave used a 16-6 run to take a 63-62 lead with 5:22 left to play.

The two teams fought back and forth throughout the rest of the second half and were tied 70-70 at the end of regulation, sending the game into overtime.

Houston took the lead for good in the overtime period on a jumper by George Williams just to the left side of the lane with 2:18 left.

Then, Marcus Oliver and Jeremee McGuire extended Houston's lead to 80-74 with two free throws each.

After Brandon Brown made two free throws for the Green Wave, Dominic Smith hit five of his six free throws in the final 33 seconds to give the Cougars an 85-81 victory.

Smith led the Cougars with 30 points, while Louis Truscott scored 18 points and pulled down a career-high 20 rebounds. Patrick Okafor added 17 points, while Williams had eight points, seven rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots.

Houston improved its overall record to 15-11 and the Cougars are in second place of Conference USA's National Division with an 8-5 league record. The Green Wave fell to 13-11 overall and 5-8 in league play.