Tulsa's Five-Game Winning Streak Snapped In Loss To Houston

Tulsa’s five-game winning streak came to an end with an 81-66 American Athletic Conference defeat at Houston Wednesday evening at Hofheinz Pavilion.

Pat Birt scored 16 points and Shaquille Harrison put up 15 points to lead the Golden Hurricane (13-7, 5-3 American). TU shot 33 percent from the field, including 3-for-26 on 3-pointers. Galen Robinson Jr. scored 19 points to lead the Cougars (14-6, 4-4 American), which shot 47 percent from the field and held a 48-38 advantage in rebounds.

Tulsa committed just five turnovers, and tallied seven assists and four steals, forcing 11 Houston miscues. TU made 19-of-28 free throws, and UH made 21-of-25 foul shots. James Woodard finished with 10 points, and Rashad Smith had seven points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The Golden Hurricane returns home to play Tulane at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Rashad Smith made a layup to start the second half, making the score 40-29, after TU trailed 40-27 at the break. After a jumper by Rob Gray Jr., Birt knocked down a 3-pointer to cut it to 10 points, 42-32, with 18:35 remaining. Houston then used a 7-0 spurt to extend its lead to 49-32, and led 54-34 with 15:03 to play.

A layup by Marquel Curtis made it 56-37, but the Cougars took their largest lead of the game – 24 points at 61-37 – at the 12:29 mark. Trailing 65-41 with 10:55 left, Smith made a layup to spark an 11-2 run that cut the deficit to 15 points, 67-52, with 6:56 to play. Harrison scored five points in that span, and Woodard capped the run with a lay-in. Birt made a layup with 2:42 left to cut it to 77-63, and then Sterling Taplin hit a jumper followed by a free throw from Curtis to cut it to 79-66, but with 1:04 remaining, it was too little too late for TU.

Houston started the game 9-0, before Pat Birt knocked down a 3-pointer at the 17:16 mark. Birt then hit another three to make the score 11-6 at the 16:45 mark. The junior had all three treys for the Hurricane in the game.

Tulsa cut the deficit to 15-12 with 12:52 to play in the half, but the Cougars went on a 12-0 run to extend their lead to 27-12. Houston led by as many as 21 points in the first period, 38-17, before the Hurricane closed the gap to 40-25 by the intermission.

TU shot 27 percent in the first half, including 2-of-14 on threes, while UH shot 43 percent, making 4-of-9 threes. The Cougars also held a 29-14 rebounding advantage and a 14-0 score on second-chance points.