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Men's Basketball Falls To Vanderbilt, 59-50
March 13, 2002
By TERESA M. WALKER
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Reserve Sam Howard scored 14 points as Vanderbilt beat Houston 59-50 Wednesday night in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament.
Vanderbilt (17-14) will play Louisiana Tech in the first round, with the location and day to be decided later Wednesday night.
Houston (18-15) was making its first postseason appearance since 1993, and it showed. The Cougars had won six of their last nine games coming in but suddenly couldn't find the basket. They led only once in each half.
When Patrick Okafor hit the first of two free throws to put Houston up 37-36 with 9:32 left, Howard jumpstarted a 17-0 run with 11 points. His 3-pointer gave Vandy, which has NIT banners from a 1990 championship and a runner-up finish in 1994, a lead it wouldn't lose again.
Russell Lakey capped the run with a free throw for Vandy's biggest lead at 53-37 with 5:34 remaining.
Houston had four players averaging in double figures, but only Louis Truscott came close to matching his usual production with 13 points as the Cougars shot only 30 percent (18-of-60).
Vanderbilt didn't shoot much better. Center Darius Coulibaly turned in his best game with a career-high 24 minutes and a season-best seven points in only his third start of the season.
Neither team could find the basket in a messy first half.
The Cougars turned in their worst first-half performance of the season in trailing 23-19 at halftime. They went nearly nine minutes without a field goal, but still tied the game at 18 with a quick 7-0 spurt keyed by Dominic Smith's 3-point play with 5:25 left.
But Vanderbilt, which suffered through a nearly six-minute scoring drought
of its own, held onto the lead with a 3-pointer by Howard.
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