Dec. 1, 2008

GAME 5
HOUSTON COUGARS (4-1 • 0-0 C-USA) at MIDDLE TENNESSEE BLUE RAIDERS (2- • 0-0 Sun Belt)
Dec. 2, 2008 • Murphy Center (11,520) • Murfreesboro, Tenn. • 7 p.m. (CST)

RADIO: Houston-ISP Sports Radio Network • 790 AM The Sports Animal-Houston • Tom Franklin, PxP
TELEVISION:none
INTERNET AUDIO: live broadcast at UHCougars.com
LIVE STATS: Live Stats at GoBlueRaiders.com
GAME NOTES: Houston Notes vs. Middle Tennessee (Dec. 2, 2008) in PDF Format

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Fresh off a 33-point win, the University of Houston men's basketball team faces its first challenge on the road when it meets Sun Belt Conference member Middle Tennessee at 7 p.m., Tuesday, in the Murphy Center.

The Cougars opened the season at the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium but squared off against Georgia Southern and Presbyterian on a netural court.

Winners of their last four games, the Cougars come into the game after an 84-51 win over North Texas on Saturday in the finale of a season-long, three-game homestand. In that game, junior guard Kelvin Lewis led all players with 20 points, his second straight 20-point game.

With that performance, Lewis jumped into the team lead with 17.2 points per game.

Senior center Marcus Cousin added a career-high 18 points and game-high nine rebounds to lead the Cougars. The Baltimore native leads the Cougars and Conference USA with 9.8 rebounds per game and is third on the team with 15.4 points per game.

Cousin is one of only four players in Conference USA to rank among the league's individual top-12 leaders in both scoring and rebounding.

Junior guard Aubrey Coleman ranks second on the team with 16.0 points per game after helping lead the Cougars in the second half of Saturday's win. With a six-point lead at the break, the Houston native guided the Cougars on a 22-6 run to open the second half, scoring six of his 13 points while adding an assist and steal.

Freshman point guard Desmond Wade tops the team and ranks among the C-USA individual leaders with 6.4 assists per game and only six turnovers total this season.

RADIO/TV INFORMATION
All Cougar Men's Basketball games can be heard live on 790 AM The Sports Animal or on the Internet at UHCougars.com with Tom Franklin calling the play-by-play action.

LIVE STATS
Fans can follow the play-by-play action by clicking on the Live Stats link on UHCougars.com or GoBlueRaiders.com.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the second straight season that the Cougars have faced the Blue Raiders on the hardwood. A year ago, the Cougars enjoyed an 83-68 win over Middle Tennessee inside Hofheinz Pavilion.

Tuesday's game will be the first time that the Cougars have played in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

ABOUT MIDDLE TENNESSEE
Middle Tennessee comes into Tuesday's game with a 2-2 overall record. However, the Blue Raiders also are riding a two-game losing streak after losses to state rivals Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Demetrius Green leads the Blue Raiders with 16.0 points per game, while Desmond Yates is second with 13.8 points per game. Kevin Kanaskie has added 12.0 points per game and leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per contest.

Now in his seventh year at Middle Tennessee, head coach Kermit Davis has posted an 0-3 record against the Cougars during his career, including a pair of losses during his stint at Texas A&M during the 1990-91 season.