National Basketball Association
Houston 68, Southern Methodist 64
When: 1:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 13, 2014
Where: FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee
Officials:
# Rick Crawford, # Ray Natalli, # Alfred Smith
Attendance:
13011
By SportsDirect Inc.
Houston 68, No. 23 Southern Methodist 64: Jherrod Stiggers scored 19 points off the bench and the sixth-seeded Cougars upset No. 3 SMU in the American Athletic Conference quarterfinals in Memphis, Tenn.
L.J. Rose had 16 points, six rebounds and four assists for Houston (17-15), which will play second-seeded Louisville in Friday’s semifinals. TaShawn Thomas added 14 points, nine rebounds and four blocks and Danuel House finished with 11 points for the Cougars.
The leading scorer for the Mustangs also came from the bench as Cannen Cunningham finished with 14 points. Markus Kennedy pitched in 13 points and nine rebounds and Nick Russell added 10 points for SMU (23-9).
SMU scored the final five points of the first half to take its biggest lead at 38-29. A jumper by Thomas trimmed the deficit to 44-42 with 14:35 left and House’s 3-pointer with just under 13 minutes left put the Cougars back on top.
Stiggers followed with another 3 less than a minute later to give Houston its biggest lead at 51-46 with 12:29 remaining and the Cougars maintained the lead the rest of the way. Houston finished with a 34-31 edge on the boards.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Kennedy moved back into the starting lineup in place of Cunningham, who made his only start of the season in the regular-season finale. … SMU won both meetings against Houston during the regular season. … The Mustangs haven’t advanced to the NCAA Tournament since 1993.
Top Game Performances
Houston |
|
Southern Methodist |
Jherrod Stiggers 19 |
Scoring |
Cannen Cunningham 14 |
L.J. Rose 4 |
Assists |
Nic Moore 8 |
TaShawn Thomas 9 |
Rebounds |
Markus Kennedy 9 |
Danuel House 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Nic Moore 8 |
Brandon Morris 1 |
Steals |
Nic Moore 2 |
TaShawn Thomas 4 |
Blocks |
Cannen Cunningham 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Houston
|
68 |
43.9 |
9-19 |
9-15 |
15 |
31 |
5 |
4 |
14 |
Southern Methodist
|
64 |
40.0 |
6-14 |
18-25 |
16 |
30 |
4 |
7 |
10 |