Houston’s Historic Home Court Streak Hits 32 with Victory Over WVU!

No. 10-ranked Houston enhanced its nation’s-leading home winning streak to 32 games following tonight’s 70-54 triumph over West Virginia at the Fertitta Center in Houston, Texas.
 
The Cougars benefited from a season-high 22 points from J’Wan Roberts and 18 from L.J. Cryer, advancing to 13-3 overall and 5-0 in Big 12 contests.
 
“(Roberts) creates challenges because we did double team him once in the first half and they hit a three, but our strategy headed into this was to defend him one-on-one and he capitalized on it,” West Virginia coach Darian DeVries stated afterward. “He places you in a really difficult position because he is such an exceptional passer.”
 
Roberts successfully made 10 of his 13 shots while Cryer converted half of his 10 three-point attempts.
 
West Virginia, concluding a two-game away series that involved a Sunday afternoon victory in Colorado, falls to 12-4 and 3-2.
 
Amani Hansberry came off the bench to score 16 points, including 12 consecutively during a specific stretch in the second half, while Javon Small added 13.
 
Small netted nine consecutive points in the first half, and West Virginia was down by three points with 10 minutes remaining. However, the Cougars launched a 9-0 run to extend their advantage to 12 and held a 40-27 lead at halftime.
 
West Virginia scored eight straight to start the second half and narrowed the gap to three, 51-48, with 12:36 left when they went cold.
 
“In the second half, we emerged much more assertive and executed some better defensive plays, which translated into improved offense as well,” DeVries remarked. “Then Amani ignited us in the second half, but every time we got back in it seemed a significant turnover from us prevented us from even getting a shot near the rim.”
 
Houston kept the Mountaineers scoreless for a six-minute period, and the Cougars answered with a 14-0 surge to seal the victory.
 
Houston’s largest lead was 16 with 1:10 to go.
 
The Cougars sank 11 of 26 from beyond the three-point line and converted West Virginia’s 12 turnovers into 25 points. Houston also outpaced West Virginia 24 to 16 in the paint and dominated the boards 30 to 23.
 
West Virginia recorded a shooting percentage of 44.2%, hitting 19 of 43 attempts, while Houston finished with 49%, making 25 of its 51 field goal tries.
 
Emanuel Sharp contributed 14 points for the Cougars.

Tonight’s setback marked West Virginia’s initial loss against a nationally ranked opponent after three wins.

 

“I believed that the way the game unfolded, we executed many commendable plays at times, and we recognized going into it that turnovers would be the pivotal factor,” DeVries commented. “We only committed 12 turnovers, which is slightly more than desired, but it appeared that all of them led to points.

 

“They were exceptionally proficient at taking advantage of any loose balls we provided and advancing down to convert when our defense wasn’t situated,” DeVries added.

 

The Mountaineers continue facing a challenging segment of their schedule with a home contest on Saturday against second-ranked Iowa State. 

 

West Virginia University will honor the life and legacy of Jerry West during the game with multimedia tributes throughout and an on-court memorial service at halftime featuring many of his family members present.

 

West passed away in Los Angeles last June 12.

 

The match has already been confirmed as a sellout.