Ja’Vier Francis scored a career-best 23 points on 9-of-9 shooting and collected 13 rebounds to help No. 3 Houston streamroll visiting McNeese 83-44 in nonconference action on Wednesday night.

Freshman Emanuel Sharp established season highs of 18 points and six 3-pointers as Houston (12-1) continued its strong season. Marcus Sasser made five 3-pointers while scoring 17 points, and Jamal Shead had nine assists for the Cougars.

Roberts Berze scored 13 points and Christian Shumate added 10 for NcNeese (3-10), which lost its fourth straight game.

Houston shot 52.5 percent from the field, including 14 of 33 from 3-point range. The Cougars held a 43-22 rebounding edge.

The Cowboys made 36.7 percent of their shots and were 6 of 24 from behind the arc. Zach Scott had four steals for McNeese.

The Cowboys dropped to 1-7 on the road. McNeese’s point total was its third-lowest of the season. It scored 40 in losses to Tennessee and Iowa State.

The contest was tied at 7 nearly seven minutes into the game when Houston blew it open with a 20-2 burst.

Sharp made three treys during the stretch and Sasser and Tramon Mark each made one as the Cougars took a 27-9 advantage with 4:40 left in the half.

McNeese pulled within 30-17 on a three-point play by Dionjahe Thomas with 2:27 remaining before Houston closed the half with a 12-2 burst. Sasser made two 3-pointers, Terrance Arceneaux drained one and Sharp capped a 15-point half with his fifth trey with two seconds left as the Cougars led 42-19 at the break.

Houston continued to be hot from outside in the second half and Shead and Sharp each made 3-pointers during a 16-0 surge that saw the Cougars take a 63-21 lead with 12:11 to play.

A short time later, Houston ran off eight more points in a row. Arceneaux hit a jumper with 7:30 left to give the Cougars a 31-5 edge in the second half and 73-24 for the game.

The Cowboys later finished the contest with a 12-4 run to get the final deficit under 40.

–Field Level Media