Rice University
-715, 26 CUSA
Houston
-147, 53 CUSA
Men's Basketball Falls To Houston, 72-65
2/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2009
Final Stats
Rice vs. Houston Game Book in PDF Format 
HOUSTON - Despite a 20-point scoring night by Rodney Foster and a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double turned in by Trey Stanton, Rice could not match a late Houston run in a 72-65 Cougar win over the Owls Saturday in Hofheinz Pavilion.
With the win, Houston improved to 14-7 and 5-3 in Conference USA play while Rice fell to 7-15 and 2-6. The two teams meet will play again Feb. 28th at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Neither team had more than a six-point lead until the final minutes.
The Owls' last lead came on a three-pointer by Cory Pflieger that put Rice up 52-50 with 9:23 to play. The seventh and final tie came with 3:57 remaining when Connor Frizzelle knocked down a pair of free throws to knot the score, 61-61.
Frizzelle, Conference USA's leading free throw shooter, went to the line for Stanton who came down hard onto the court when he was fouled driving for a layup attempt. The two free throws came after a media timeout as the Owls' training staff continued to evaluate the sophomore center. Stanton did reenter and play the final minutes of the game.
Houston would stretch out its biggest lead with an 8-0 run that was sparked by a driving layup by Aubrey Coleman. Coleman had scrambled and fought for the rebound of his own missed shot before going inside for the basket that gave the Cougars the lead for good with 3:27 to play.
After a three-pointer by Foster rimmed out, Kelvin Lewis took a pass from Coleman drained a three-pointer from the corner to put Houston out in front, 66-61.
Foster's miss on the Rice end of the floor was the first of three straight possessions in which the Owls failed to convert field goal attempts.
Marucs Cousin made one of two free throw attempts before Desmond Wade connected on two shots at the line to give Houston a 69-61 lead with 54 seconds to play.
Aleks Perka's layin with 48 seconds to play cut Houston's lead to 69-63 and Rice had a chance to cut the margin further after a Coleman missed free throw. Despite back-to-back offensive rebounds the Owls could not convert on three straight field goal attempts. Qa'man Calhoun's free throw at the 20 second mark gave Houston a 70-63 lead.
Coleman, who had scored 30+ points in the Cougars' previous two games, finished with a game-high 27 points. He was 8-of-18 from the field, 11-of-12 from the free throw line and also grabbed 12 rebounds.
Houston outrebounded the Owls 42-33. The Cougars also blocked six Rice shots.
