Fabian White Jr. and Josh Carlton co-authored a dominating effort on the glass as the 14th-ranked Houston Cougars moved to the brink of clinching the regular-season crown in the American Conference with a 75-61 victory over the visiting SMU Mustangs Sunday.
White finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Carlton added 19 points and eight boards to lead the Cougars (24-4, 13-2), who outrebounded SMU 49-25. Houston turned 21 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points to snuff the Mustangs’ second-half run.
Kendric Davis scored 19 points to pace the Mustangs, who shot just 39.2 percent and missed 17 of 21 3-pointers. The Mustangs (20-7, 11-4) also surrendered a 48-30 advantage on points in the paint.
Taze Moore added 11 points for Houston, and Jamal Shead paired 10 points with 11 assists.
SMU, the conference leader in 3-pointers per game, finished 0 for 8 from behind the arc in the first half, and trailed by as many as 19 points prior to the intermission.
However, Marcus Weathers (eight points) stroked a pair of treys early in the second half for the Mustangs, and when Emmanuel Bandoumel (nine points) drilled a 3-pointer at the 16:05 mark, SMU pulled to within 43-35.
Davis was the linchpin behind the Mustangs’ second-half rally to within single digits with four points and an assist on Weathers’ first 3-pointer.
Davis added a three-point play that sliced the deficit to 46-38, but White keyed the decisive surge for Houston by scoring through a Weathers foul and completing the three-point play with a free throw for a 51-40 advantage.
Carlton sank two free throws after getting fouled following his offensive rebound, and his second-chance layup with 6:39 remaining pushed the Houston lead to 63-42.
When White converted an offensive rebound in the first half, the Cougars grabbed a 33-14 lead with 3:36 remaining. Houston seized control with a 16-4 run snapped by two free throws by Stefan Todorovic at the 8:44 mark, and Weathers followed with a layup less than a minute later.
The Mustangs had just two more field goals before the break, both coming via goaltending calls against Houston.
SMU shot 8 of 24 in the half and trailed 37-22 at the break.
–Field Level Media
