|
Men's Basketball Opens Play at College Basketball invitational on Wednesday
March 17, 2009
GAME 33
This marks the second straight season and the 29th time in school history that the Cougars have earned a postseason berth. A year ago, the Cougars earned wins at Nevada and against Valparaiso before bowing out in the CBI semifinals at eventual champion Tulsa. The Cougars (21-11 • 10-6 C-USA) enter the College Basketball Invitational after posting a 2-1 record and advancing to the Conference USA Tournament semifinals for the third time in the last four seasons. UH enjoyed wins against SMU and an overtime thriller against 2009 CBI participant UTEP before falling to host No. 4/3 Memphis. UH is led by a pair of All-Conference USA performers. Junior guard Aubrey Coleman, who was named to the league's First Team, leads the Cougars with 19.7 points and 8.4 rebounds and is looking to become the first pure guard in school history to win the team's scoring and rebounding titles in the same season. Junior guard Kelvin Lewis, who was a Third-Team honoree, ranks second on the team with 18.0 points per game and ranks among the national leaders in 3-point field goals per game and 3-point field goal percentage. In addition, the Fort Worth native remains a defensive leader for the Cougars after being named to the C-USA All-Defensive Team. Senior center Marcus Cousin is a close second on the team with 8.3 rebounds per game and ranks third among the Cougars with 11.2 points per game. Junior forward Qa'rraan Calhoun ranks fourth on the team with 10.6 points and third with 5.3 rebounds per game. Freshman point guard Desmond Wade leads the Cougars with 3.9 assists per game and ranks among the top-10 national leaders in assist:turnover ratio, while sophomore guard Zamal Nixon has started 12 of the last 14 games and moved into fourth on the Cougars' scoring charts this season.
In addition, Wednesday's game can be seen live on HDNet (DirecTV ch. 306 / Dish Network ch. 9422) with Rich Cellini calling the play-by-play action and Craig Ehlo providing analysis.
HDNet is not yet carried on some Comcast or Cox cable systems.
If fans already receive HDNet as a high-definition channel choice, nothing more is needed nor additional purchases to make.
At a Restaurant Fans may want to call ahead to see if restaurants tune their HDTVs to channel 79 and/or 306 (DirecTV) or channel 9422 (Dish Network) for HDNet at that location.
Fans also can order online at OSUBeavers.com.
Wednesday's game will be the first time that the Cougars have faced Oregon State in Corvallis. It will be the first home game for either team in the all-time series.
In their most recent game, the Beavers dropped a 62-54 decision to Stanford in the opening round of the Pac-10 Tournament on March 11. Against the Cardinal, guard Lathen Wallace led the Beavers with 18 points, while center Roeland Schaftenaar added 12 points and five rebounds.
This season, sophomore guard Calvin Haynes lead the Beavers with 14.1 points per game, making him the only OSU player to average double digits. Junior guard Seth Tarver ranks third on the team with 7.9 points per game but leads the Beavers with 5.0 rebounds per contest. Schaftenaar ranks second with 9.8 points and nearly one block per game.
Now In his first season at Oregon State, head coach Craig Robinson - who is the brother-in-law of President Barack Obama - has posted a 13-17 (.433) record in Corvallis. Robinson, who coached the previous two seasons at Brown, has compiled a 43-45 (.489) record during his career.
A year ago, the Cougars took an 80-79 win at Nevada in the CBI First Round and followed that with a 91-67 rout of Valparaiso in Hofheinz Pavilion before falling at eventual champion Tulsa in the semifinals.
UH can boast of a rich history in postseason tournaments. The Cougars will compete in their 29th postseason event during the 2009 College Basketball Invitational. UH has appeared in 18 NCAA Tournaments with nine berths to the NIT. After posting a 2-1 record at the inaugural College Basketball Invitational, the Cougars now own a 33-33 all-time record during postseason tournaments.
Those numbers break down as a 26-23 (.531) mark in the NCAA Tournament, a 5-9 (.357) record in the NIT and a 2-1 (.667) mark in the College Basketball Invitational.
The Cougars' NCAA slate includes five Final Four Appearances, including three straight from 1982 to 1984 and two berths in the national championship game (1983 and 1984).
|
ATHLETICS TICKET OFFICE
TICKET INFORMATION
ONLINE TICKET SALES
tickets@UH.edu
713-GO-COOGS (462-6647) 877-COUGAR-5 (268-4275) |
