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Men's Hoops Moves on to C-USA Tournament Championship Game
March 12, 2010
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Houston-Southern Miss Game Book
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Senior guard Aubrey Coleman led all players with 27 points, and junior forward Maurice McNeil added a team-high seven rebounds to lead the University of Houston men's basketball team to a 74-66 win against No. 6 seed Southern Miss during the semifinals of the GMC Sierra Conference USA Championship at BOK Center. Coleman, who entered the game as the nation's leading scorer, posted 21 second-half points and connected on 10-of-12 free throw attempts while playing all 40 minutes to lead the Cougars. Coming off the bench, McNeil recorded six points but led the Cougars with seven rebounds, including six off the offensive glass. The New York native also grabbed a pair of offensive boards during the final two minutes when the Golden Eagles had trimmed a 7-point Cougar lead to only two. In both cases, McNeil was fouled after snaring the rebound and converted all but one of his free throws to pad the Cougar lead.
Fans can hear the championship game live on SportsTalk 790 AM with Tom Franklin calling the play-by-play action. The pregame show is slated to begin at 10:15 a.m. Fans also can watch the game on CBS with Gus Johnson calling the play-by-play action and Dan Bonner providing analysis.
Despite being outrebounded in Friday's semifinal, the Cougars hit 43.4 percent from the field and limited Southern Miss to only 38.5 percent. Just as importantly, the Cougars were steady from the free throw line, hitting 22-of-27 free throw attempts in the game, including 13-of-16 attempts from the charity stripe during the final two-and-a-half minutes to preserve the win. The Cougars built a 59-52 lead when Coleman drained a jumper with 7:09 remaining in the game. However, the Golden Eagles used a 7-2 run during the next 4:21 and moved to within 61-59 when USM's Sai'Quon Stone hit a pair of free throws. On the Cougars' ensuing possession, Coleman missed a 3-pointer but McNeil grabbed the loose ball and was hacked, hitting both free throw attempts, to push the Cougar lead back to 63-59 with 2:13 left. After a missed USM shot and a missed Houston 3-point attempt, McNeil again came up big with the offensive board and was fouled, hitting 1-of-2 free throw attempts for a 66-61 Cougar lead. The Golden Eagles were forced to foul in the final minute, and the Cougars iced the contest with Coleman four straight attempts and junior guard Adam Brown hitting 3-of-4 during the final 12 seconds. Lewis, who played in his 96th consecutive game and played every minute in a game for the 18th time in his career, added 12 points with four rebounds. Brown was a major force off the bench for the Cougars, pouring in 13 points with a pair of 3-pointers and three rebounds. The Cougar reserves outscored Southern Miss' bench 29-9 in the game. Southern Miss forward Gary Flowers led the Golden Eagles with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while guard Angelo Johnson added 12 points and a pair of assists. With the win, the Cougars improved to 18-15 overall and advanced to the GMC Sierra Conference USA Tournament championship game for the second time in school history and to a conference tournament championship for the 11th time. Houston improved to 18-15, while Southern Miss fell to 20-13. The Cougars avenged a regular-season loss to the Golden Eagles, who claimed a 57-55 win on a last-second tip-in at Hofheinz Pavilion on Feb. 6. The Cougars also won at least 18 games in a season for the sixth straight season, extending their school record in that category.
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