L.J. Cryer scored 16 of his game-high 22 points before halftime as 15th-ranked Houston rode a stifling first-half defensive effort into a 62-42 victory over visiting Troy on Tuesday.
The Cougars (6-3) extended their homecourt winning streak to 27 games, the longest active run in the nation. The sharpshooting Cryer was instrumental in helping Houston extend its dominance at home, drilling 6 of 7 3-point attempts en route to his fourth 20-point game of the season to pace an offense that otherwise labored throughout.
The Cougars’ Emanuel Sharp added 14 points while Terrance Arceneaux chipped in nine. J’Wan Roberts paired six points with nine rebounds for the Cougars, who shot just 43.1 percent from the floor.
Houston led 33-11 at the break, setting a school record for fewest points allowed in a first half.
Troy (5-4) fared far worse in terms of shooting. Myles Rigsby, the Trojans’ leading scorer on the season at 14 points per game, was limited to three points in the game, on a trey with 7:24 to play.
Thomas Dowd put up 10 points for Troy, and Tayton Conerway had nine. The Trojans shot 24 percent overall and missed 16 of 18 3-point tries.
The Trojans endured a nightmarish first half. When Marcus Rigsby Jr. nailed a 3-pointer with 9:28 left before intermission, it sliced the Cougars’ lead to 14-7 and snapped the Trojans’ scoring drought of 5:13.
Houston was scuffling on offense, too, going five minutes without a field goal before a Joseph Tugler jumper extended the Cougars’ lead to 18-7 with 6:18 left until the break.
Behind Cryer, the Cougars found an offensive rhythm. His 3-pointer after the Tugler basket pushed the lead to 14, and when Cryer nailed 3-pointers less than two minutes apart later in the half, Houston secured its first 20-point lead. The advantage reached 33-8 on another Cryer trey that capped a 19-1 run.
Troy missed 13 of 14 field-goal attempts during that stretch, and when Conerway scored with 12 seconds left in the half, it marked the Trojans’ first field goal since the Rigsby Jr. 3-pointer more than nine minutes prior. Troy closed the half with twice as many turnovers (eight) as field goals (four).
–Field Level Media
