Joseph Tugler scored 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting off the bench while Emanuel Sharp made all five of his three-point attempts, leading No. 7 Houston to a wire-to-wire 80-44 victory over visiting Hofstra on Friday night.
Sharp finished with 16 points and is now 11-of-15 from 3-point range this season. Terrance Arceneaux scored 12 points for the Cougars (3-1) on 5-of-7 shooting, while Milos Uzan added four points, five rebounds and a team-high six assists.
Houston shot 46.8 percent (29-of-62) from the floor and made half of its 24 3-point attempts.
The Cougars went on a 19-0 run spanning over seven minutes at the end of the first half to take a 48-18 lead into halftime. Sharpe hit one of his 3-pointers during the run, while Arceneaux added five points. TJ Gadsen’s 3-pointer with four seconds left in the half ended Hofstra’s 7:07 scoring drought.
Houston pushed its lead to as many as 44 points in the second half, using an extended 26-6 run to surge ahead 80-36 with 4:20 left. Mylik Wilson punctuated the run with a pair of threes for his only six points of the game.
Cruz Davis paced a helpless offensive effort from Hofstra (4-2), leading Pride with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Cruz was the only Hofstra player who reached double figures. Jaquan Sanders scored eight points and KiJan Robinson added seven. Beyond those three, the Pride only got 11 combined points from the rest of their team.
Hofstra shot just 30.8 percent (16-of-52) against a Houston defense that forced 15 turnovers and blocked six shots. The Cougars outscored the Pride 17-5 in points off turnovers and held a 44-10 advantage in bench points.
Hofstra outrebounded Houston 32-29, but the Pride trailed by double digits for the game’s final 31:19 en route to their second straight loss.
–Field Level Media
