Nov. 22, 2005

Final Stats

Houston, Texas - The University of Houston men's basketball team set two school records and had seven players score in double figures in a 131-62 victory over Florida Tech Tuesday night on the Guy V. Lewis Court at Hofheinz Pavilion, but it was the play of a freshman center that most of the Cougars focused on following the game.

The 131 points were the most points ever scored by a UH team in a season-opening game and the ninth highest point total ever. The Cougar also set a team record with 19 three-point field goals, breaking the old record of 15 set at Cal State Fullerton on February 10, 1993.

"We had 19 threes, 33 assists and 131 points, yet all the kids were talking about after the game was "Tree" (Emmanuel Adeife)," Houston head coach Tom Penders said. "He had an awfully good game, but he has been working hard and improving every day in practice under the tutelage of (UH assistant coach George Walker)."

Adeife finished the game with eight points, 15 rebounds and eight blocked shots in 18 minutes for the Cougars.

Another freshman on Houston's roster, Lamar Roberson, came off the bench to score a game-high 25 points as he set a UH freshman record with seven three-point field goals. He was one shy of Houston's school record set by Andre Owens at Marquette on March 2, 2005.

"All that hard work in practice has paid off," Roberson said. "Every day I shoot against Lanny Smith and Oliver Lafayette. If you miss one time, you lose. So tonight when I missed my first three, I wasn't going to panic. Then, Lanny gave it to me and said knock it down. After that, I was in a zone. Coach says that if we are open and we get the ball, we better shoot or you will be sitting beside him."

Junior college transfer Oliver Lafayette also scored 19 points and handed out five assists in his first start for the Cougars.

"This game was really important to me because it was my first (Division I) game," Lafayette said. "I always imagined what it would be like, but I never dreamed it would be this good."

Jahmar Thorpe also scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in his first start for the Cougars, and Ramon Dyer scored 14 points, Sergio de Randamie score 11 and freshman Corey Bloom had 13 points off the bench.

Junior guard Lanny Smith had five points and tied his career-high of 10 assists.

The game was not much of a contest from that outset as Houston opened the game with a 30-0 run in the first 8:45 before Florida Tech's Kevin Krieg made both of his free throws.

The Cougar never looked back as they held a 69-27 lead at halftime, and outscored the Panthers 62-35 in the second half. Houston shot 51 percent from the field, making 46 of their 89 field-goal attempts, and registered 33 assists.

On the defensive end, the Cougars registered 20 steals and forced 33 turnovers by the Panthers.

"I was very pleased with the 33 assists tonight," Penders added. "We are running a different offense that has a lot more passing and cutting in our attack because we have a lot more people who can score.

"However, our focus has always been on defense because that is what makes our offense go. I was very encouraged that we challenged every shot in the first half. Our defensive hustle and blocked shots were the story for us tonight no matter what the 131 points look like."

The Cougars will play Virginia Commonwealth this Saturday night as part of a Cougar football-basketball double header. The UH football team plays host to cross-town rival Rice University at 3:00 p.m. on John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium. Then, the men's basketball team plays Virginia Commonwealth at 8:00 p.m. on the Guy V. Lewis Court at Hofheinz Pavilion.