No. 8 Houston uses balanced attack to rout Louisiana

Field Level Media|published: Wed 13th November, 22:57 2024

NCAA Basketball: Louisiana-Lafayette at Houston

Nov 13, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Louisiana Ragin Cajuns guard Koron Davis (11) fouls Houston Cougars guard Terrance Arceneaux (23) during the first half at Fertitta Center. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Terrance Arceneaux led a balanced scoring effort with 14 points and No. 8 Houston dominated from early in the game in rolling past visiting Louisiana 91-45 in a nonconference game Wednesday night.

Milos Uzan added 13 points, Mercy Miller scored 12 and J'Wan Roberts and Emanuel Sharp had 11 each as the Cougars (2-1) bounced back from a 74-69 home loss to then No. 11 Auburn on Saturday.

Houston made 19 of 27 free throws and Louisiana made 9 of 12. Houston scored 27 points off 23 Louisiana turnovers, and Louisiana scored three points off 10 Houston turnovers.

The Ragin' Cajuns (1-2) -- who made just 4 of 21 3-pointers in an 82-65 victory against visiting UT Dallas last Thursday -- sank 6 of 21 3-pointers. The Cougars made 10 of 23.

No Louisiana players reached double figures in scoring or rebounding.

The Cougars built a 26-point lead by halftime and didn't give the Cajuns an opportunity to make a push in the second half.

After an exchange of field goals to start the second-half scoring, Roberts scored the first five points in a 10-0 run that gave Houston a 63-27 lead.

Koron Davis made a free throw to end the run, but the Cougars scored the next four points and outscored Louisiana 40-20 in the second half.

The first seven minutes of the game featured four lead changes and two ties before back-to-back layups by Uzan and Miller, followed by Miller's 3-pointer, gave the Cougars a 20-10 lead.

Davis' 3-pointer ended Louisiana's 3 1/2-minute scoring drought, but Miller had four points to help Houston open a 28-17 lead.

The Cajuns' Kyndall Davis made a 3-pointer, but Roberts made four free throws and Ja'vier Francis added two to help the Cougars expand the lead to 36-20.

Christian Wright converted a three-point play for Louisiana before Uzan had a 3-pointer and a three-point play during a 13-0 run that increased the lead to 26 points.

Wright's two free throws ended a more than four-minute scoring drought for the Cajuns before Uzan's jumper gave Houston a 51-25 halftime lead.

--Field Level Media