No. 14 Houston dominates early, rolls past BYU

Field Level Media|published: Sat 4th January, 16:22 2025

Jan 23, 2024; Provo, Utah, USA; Houston Cougars forward J'Wan Roberts (13) holds the ball away from Brigham Young Cougars forward Noah Waterman (0) during the second half at Marriott Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Emanuel Sharp scored a game-high 18 points and Terrance Arceneaux added 15 points off the bench as No. 14 Houston rolled to a 86-55 victory over BYU in their Big 12 home opener on Saturday.

Sharp and Arceneaux combined for 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting in a runaway first half for Houston (10-3, 2-0 Big 12), which extended its overall winning streak to six games and its homecourt winning streak to a nation-best 30 games.

L.J. Cryer and Milos Uzan teamed to deliver the knockout blows in the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers that extended a 17-point halftime cushion to 57-32 with 12:43 remaining. BYU (10-3, 1-1) never recovered.

Trevin Knell paced BYU with 12 points while Richie Saunders, fresh off a career-high 30 points against Arizona State, tallied just nine points on 3-of-8 shooting.

BYU surrendered 24 points off 15 turnovers and was dominated on the boards, producing a minus-13 rebounding margin (37-24).

The outcome was decided early, with Houston turning a 12-2 run into its first double-digit lead at 16-6 when Arceneaux converted a second-chance opportunity into a 3-pointer with 12:29 remaining before halftime.

Knell tried to keep BYU within range with a pair of early 3-pointers, but even after Kanon Catchings drilled a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer with 6:20 left in the first half, BYU trailed 26-16.

Arceneaux helped Houston extend to a comfortable margin with a steal and transition basket with 3:10 left and a 3-pointer that beat the shot-clock buzzer and pushed the lead to 35-19 just 41 seconds later. Houston converted 10 BYU turnovers into 17 points before the intermission.

Houston dominated multiple first-half categories, turning 10 offensive rebounds into eight second-chance points. Excluding Knell, who had nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range in the first half, BYU shot 1 of 9 behind the arc.

Houston led 39-22 at the half despite Cryer and Uzan, who totaled 30 points in a road win over Oklahoma State on Monday, shooting a combined 2 for 14.

Houston led by as many as 34 points. BYU posted a season-low point total.

--Field Level Media

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