02/08/26 12:11:00
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02/08 00:09 CST No. 8 Houston pulls away late to hand No. 16 BYU fourth
straight loss, 77-66
No. 8 Houston pulls away late to hand No. 16 BYU fourth straight loss, 77-66
By JOHN COON
Associated Press
PROVO, Utah (AP) --- Kingston Flemings scored 11 of his 19 points in the second
half to help No. 8 Houston beat No. 16 BYU 77-66 on Saturday night.
Chris Cenac, Jr. added 16 points and Emanuel Sharp had 14 for Houston (21-2,
9-1 Big 12), which has won four in a row to stay within a game of No. 1 Arizona
in the Big 12 standings. The Cougars shot 50% from the field after halftime.
AJ Dybantsa scored 28 points and Rob Wright III added 17 for the Cougars (17-6,
5-5), who dropped their fourth straight game.
BYU got Houston into the bonus quickly in the second half, but shot just 16 of
28 from the free-throw line.
Flemings made four baskets to power a 14-5 run that put Houston up 68-59 with
3:06 left. The visiting Cougars scored three second-chance baskets during the
run to gradually pull away from BYU.
Houston used efficient offense and stifling interior defense to build a
double-digit lead before halftime.
After Richie Saunders and Wright made back-to-back 3s to help pull BYU within
one, Houston countered with a 9-0 spurt to extend its lead to 28-18. Flemings
bookended the run with a pair of baskets.
Dybantsa bookended a run of four straight baskets and added four free throws to
help BYU trim the deficit to single digits before halftime. His driving layup
that sparked the run ended a scoring drought lasting 4:44 for the Cougars.
Back-to-back baskets from Wright capped a 14-4 run that put BYU up 51-48 early
in the second half.
Up next
Houston: at Utah on Tuesday.
BYU: at Baylor on Tuesday.
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