University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
Saint Louis
Billikens Edge Cougars 67-64
1/5/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2002
St. Louis, Mo. - Chris Braun made a lay-up and Jason Edwin made two free throws in the final 15 seconds of the game to give Saint Louis a 67-64 victory over the University of Houston in both teams' Conference USA opening game.
"This is another heartbreaking loss for our team," said Houston head coach Ray McCallum. "If you have followed us in recent weeks, you know that it is our third close loss in the last four games."
The Cougars trailed by as many as 15 points, 35-20, with 3:56 left in the first half, went to a 2-3 zone and stymied the Billikens' offensive attack. Houston went on 8-1 run the rest of the period to close to within eight, 36-28, at halftime.
"The zone was effective," McCallum said. "We got them out of their rhythm and had the momentum going into halftime. I wanted to come out and attack them early in the second half because they have been a slow starting team in the second half."
Houston heeded McCallum's instruction and closed to within one, 43-42, with 10:04 left to play. The Cougars stayed close the rest of the way and took a 60-58 lead on Jeremee McGuire's two free throws with 3:20 left to play.
Saint Louis refused to fold, though, as Marque Perry made three of his four free throws on the Billikens' next two possessions as they took a 61-60 lead with 1:35 left to play.
On Houston's next possession, Louis Truscott scored his only basket of the night on a lay-up to give the Cougars a 62-61 lead with 1:08 left to play.
Perry quickly drove coast to coast for an uncontested lay-up with 56 seconds left as Saint Louis retook a 63-62 lead.
Houston worked the ball inside to Patrick Okafor and was fouled by Drew Diener. Okafor made both of his free throws to give Houston a 64-63 lead with 27 seconds left to play.
Perry brought the ball up the court and drove down the left side of the lane to force Okafor to come up and stop his drive. He quickly passed to Braun for a lay-up with 15 seconds left to play.
Kevin Gaines brought the ball up court and drove down the left side of the lane toward the basket. Gaines tried to shoot the ball over Braun, but his shot missed the basket and Edwin grabbed the rebound.
"We felt we had plenty of time to get a good shot," said McCallum. "We wanted to get the ball to Dominic for a drive, but Kevin saw an open lane and drove to the basket."
Gaines wasn't able to get a clean shot off as Braun closed his path and Edwin grabbed the rebound. Gaines quickly fouled Edwin, who made both free throws with 1.2 seconds left to seal the victory for Saint Louis.
Smith led Houston with 16 points, while Okafor added 14 points. Junior Jeremee McGuire added 10 points and a career-high nine rebounds. Edwin scored 13 points to lead Saint Louis.
The victory gives Houston a 6-6 overall record and 0-1 mark in Conference USA play. The Billikens are 7-7 this season with a 1-0 C-USA mark.
Houston will travel to New Orleans, La. on Tuesday night, where the Cougars will play the Tulane in their second straight road game. The Green Wave are 9-3 overall this season and have a 1-0 C-USA record after beating DePaul, 73-63, in Chicago Saturday afternoon.
