No. 15 Houston overcame a 13-point second-half deficit and took down Hofstra in overtime, 83-75, in the season opener on Tuesday night.
Marcus Sasser scored 11 of his team-high 25 points in the final eight minutes of regulation and overtime for Houston in the Cougars’ first game since the 2021 Final Four.
Houston didn’t hold a lead for the final 37:52 of regulation against Hofstra, which was picked to finish fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association.
But the Cougars, who trailed 62-49 with 8:30 left, ended the game on a 34-13 run and never trailed in overtime.
Kyler Edwards had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Houston while Taze Moore scored 12 points and forced overtime by draining the 3-pointer with 24 seconds left that tied the game at 69-69.
Graduate student Zach Cooks scored 26 points for Hofstra, which almost pulled off what likely would have been the biggest win in program history in the head coaching debut of Speedy Claxton, who starred for the Long Island school from 1996-2000 before playing 10 years in the NBA. The Pride has just two wins over top 25 foes over the last 30 years.
Aaron Estrada had 15 points and Omar Silverio added 13 points off the bench for Hofstra, which played without graduate senior Jalen Ray, who led the Pride in scoring last season but was not in uniform on the bench.
Houston led just twice in the first half — scores of 3-0 and 3-2 — as Hofstra raced out to a 10-point lead at 20-10 following a 3-pointer by Estrada with 10:57 left. The Pride led 37-31 at the half and extended the lead to 62-49 on a 3-pointer by Darlinstone Dubar.
Houston didn’t get within a possession until a layup by Jamal Shead cut Hofstra’s lead to 66-64 with 2:45 left. Cooks responded with a 3-pointer, but Sasser answered with a driving layup and the Pride missed its next three shots before Shead stole an in-bounds pass by Caleb Burgess to set up Moore’s game-tying 3-pointer.
Estrada lofted an air ball just before the buzzer. Sasser opened overtime with a 3-pointer to give Houston the lead for good.
–Field Level Media
