University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
East Carolina
East Carolina Shoots Down Cougars 63-46
2/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 23, 2002
Greenville, N.C. - Kenyatta Brown scored 21 points and Travis Holcombe-Faye added 17 to lead East Carolina to a 63-46 victory over the University of Houston men's basketball team Saturday night.
Brown scored the first four points of the game by hitting one of his two free throws and his first three point attempts from the right wing as the Pirates had Houston on its heels the entire night.
After the Pirates extended their lead to 15-9, the Cougars fought back to tied the game at 22 all with 2:39 left to play in the first half on two free throws by Dominic Smith.
But, Brandon Hawkins hit his only three-point shot of the night as the Pirates regained the lead and never trailed again. Smith's 14 points in the opening period kept Houston close as the Cougars trailed, 27-24, at halftime.
The second half opened with Holcombe-Faye scoring on a lay-up and two free throws to extend East Carolina's lead to 30-26.
After Louis Truscott made a lay-up to pull Houston to within 33-32 with 16:32 left, the Pirates seized control of the game with an 11-2 run and the Pirates never looked back.
The Cougars couldn't get any closer than seven the rest of the way as they shot closed the game shooting just 27 percent from the field in the second half.
Houston scored just 14 points in the final 16 minutes of the game as East Carolina won going away, 63-46.
Smith ended the game without any points in the second half. The only other Cougar to score in double figures was George Williams, who finished with 11 points. Truscott netted nine points, all in the second half, and Patrick Okafor added five points.
The loss snapped Houston's three-game winning streak and dropped the Cougars overall record to 15-12 overall and 8-6 in Conference USA play. The Cougars will end the regular season with a game at South Florida on February 26 and against UAB on March 2.
