Houston shot its way out of a big hole to claim a 100-93 victory over No. 25 Oklahoma in its first game of the Great Alaska Shootout at Sullivan Arena Thursday night.
The Cougars got 27 points and 12 rebounds from Aubrey Coleman and 28 points from Kelvin Lewis to turn a 17-point first-half deficit into a runaway win.
Oklahoma opened the game on fire from outside, getting a pair of three-pointers from Steven Pledger and another from Tony Crocker to take a 9-4 lead and forcing Penders to call an early timeout to settle his troops.
The stoppage did little to slow the Sooners, who pushed their first-half lead to 16 after a huge block by Tony Crocker. Crocker used his 43-inch vertical leap to stuff Houston's Adam Brown on the break, which started a fast-break for the Sooners, who finished with a nifty driving lay-up by Warren to make it 36-23 with seven minutes left in the half.
Oklahoma led by as many as 17 in the first half before the Cougars finally showed some life against the Sooners' 2-3 zone defense, getting back-to-back jumpers from Kelvin Lewis and a breakout dunk by Coleman to help cut the lead to single digits.
With Warren on the bench with three fouls, Houston managed to whittle the lead to five points at the half after a three from Kirk Van Slyke that made it 52-47 heading into the break. Van Slyke was one of three Houston players to hit double figures in the first with 10 points. Lewis had 16 in the first for the Cougars while Coleman added 11 points and six boards - four of them on the offensive end, where Houston used a 14-5 advantage in the half to keep the Sooners from pulling away.
Pledger was a monster for the Sooners early and often, knocking down four threes and finishing with 20 points while playing all 20 minutes of the half. But he was ice cold in the second, finishing the game with just three more points than he took to the first-half locker room.
Willie Warren led Oklahoma with 25 points.
Houston cut the deficit to just three points with a jumper by Lewis on the Cougars' first possession of second half, but followed Lewis' score with an 11-4 run to push the lead back to double digits.
Houston then countered with an 11-0 run of their own, taking their first lead since the opening minutes at 64-63 after Lewis got a steal and nailed a three-pointer with 13 minutes to go in the game.
Houston's surge continued late in the second half thanks to tenacious defense by the Cougars' guards. Houston got steals on three consecutive possessions, taking a 78-71 lead thanks to a steal and pair of free-throws by Coleman, who was intentionally fouled by Oklahoma's Tony Crocker on the break.
That took the wind out of Oklahoma's sails, as Houston pushed its lead to as many as 15 points before cruising to the victory.
The victory moved Houston to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the Shootout, while Oklahoma dropped to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the tournament.
Brandon Walker hit the sack around midnight Wednesday, was up by 6:30 Thanksgiving morning and at UAA for basketball practice by 7:30.
This was all in preparation for a 5 p.m. Great Alaska Shootout game, during which Walker looked plenty energized while powering the Seawolves to a 72-58 victory over Nicholls State of Louisiana.
Walker connected on 8 of 10 shots for a game-high 21 points, an effort that guaranteed he'll get to sleep a little later Saturday morning than he would have had UAA lost.
The Seawolves will at the least play in the 4:30 p.m. third-place game -- avoiding the earlier fifth-place game -- and have a remote chance of playing for the championship at 7.
UAA (3-2) won't know who or when they play Saturday until tonight, when Nicholls State faces Washington State. The three teams are in the same pool, and because Washington State beat UAA by 19 points on Wednesday, the Cougars would clinch a spot in the title game with a win over Nicholls State. A Washington State loss would put all three teams at 1-1 and a series of tiebreakers would be needed to figure out who goes to the title game.
At UAA's early-bird practice Thursday, coach Rusty Osborne reminded the Seawolves that their first-round loss didn't automatically eliminate them from contention.
"What we talked about was with this format, we weren't out of it," Osborne said. "We're 1-1 and strange things happen in the Great Alaska Shootout. So we will wait and see. We've got a pretty good chance to play for third or fourth and an outside chance to play for first."
UAA's victory over Nicholls State (0-6) was never in serious jeopardy, although slashing guard Maurice Foster took over the game for a stretch in the second half.
Foster scored eight points in a 10-0 run that cut UAA's lead from 16 points to six, 53-47, with just under seven minutes to play. He scored off the dribble at will during that stretch, regardless of who defended him.
"We started moving, so they were giving us lanes to drive and we took advantage of it," Foster said.
Bent but not broken, the Seawolves survived the scare.
Nick Pacitti ended a seven-minute field goal drought for the Seawolves with a putback of his own miss at 5:45. Nicholls State answered to again cut the margin to six, but a pair of Malcolm Campbell free throws and Walker's third 3-pointer of the night put UAA up by 11.
"We got the game right where we wanted it and we had opportunities to make plays," Nicholls State coach J.P. Piper said. "Then we gave them an open offensive rebound and an open look at a 3. You can't do that on the road."
The Colonels know the road all too well by now. By the time they leave Alaska, they'll have played eight road games in 16 days, including three on consecutive nights at both the Shootout and a tournament last week in Albuquerque.
"We're very frustrated right now, because we think we're better than we've played," Piper said of his seniorless squad.
Walker's 21 marked his second 20-plus game of the tournament. In UAA's first three games, the 6-foot-3 junior averaged 12.7 points per game.
"I didn't have many looks," Walker said of those first three games. "We're an equal-opportunity offense. It just depends on the night."
Besides piling up points, Walker stayed active on defense, grabbed a team-high six rebounds and was one of three Seawolves with four assists.
If Walker was the focal point of the offense -- at least for this game -- Kevin White was the defensive anchor. He took on Nicholls State's leading scorer -- Anatoly Bose, who entered the game with a 19-point scoring average.
It was a battle of Aussies -- the 6-6 Bose of Sydney versus the 6-4 White of Manly -- and White prevailed. He held Bose to six points.
The previous night, White took on Washington State's talented Klay Thompson, who dropped 25 points in an 87-68 win.
"Two nights in a row, he chased around a 20-point scorer who can shoot," Osborne said. "I'm really proud of the job Kevin did on Bose."
With Bose stymied, Foster emerged to score a team-high 17 points, 13 in the second half.
Campbell scored 15 points and had five rebounds for the Seawolves, who also got 10 points from Drew Robinson.
The win was UAA's 30th in 32 years of the Shootout and brings their all-time record at the tournament -- where the Seawolves are the only Division II team in an otherwise all-Division I tournament -- to 30-65.
Find Beth Bragg online at adn.com/contact/bbragg or call 257-4309.
CARRS/SAFEWAY GREAT ALASKA SHOOTOUT
NICHOLLS STATE -- Bose 2-9 0-0 6, Ward 1-3 0-0 2, Iles 6-10 0-0 14, Hunter 4-12 3-4 13, Carter 2-4 0-0 4 Foster 7-8 3-7 17, Franklin Jr. 0-1 0-0 0, Friend 0-4 0-0 0, McCallum 0-1 0-0 0, Ayers 0-2 0-0 0, Smith 1-1 0-0 0. Totals: 24-55 6-11 58.
UAA -- C. Robinson 3-3 0-0 8, Campbell 5- 5-8 15, K. White 1-2 2-2 5, D. Robinson 3-6 2-2 5, Walker 8-10 2-2 21, Arnott 1-1 0-0 3, Lao 2-4 4-4 3, Gibcus 0-2 0-0 0, Pacitti 1-5 0-1 4. Totals: 24-41 15-19 72.
Three-point goals -- Nicholls State 4-15 (Bose 2-4, Iles 2-5, Hunter 0-1, Franklin Jr. 0-1, Friend 0-3, Ayers 0-1). UAA 15-19 (Campbell 5-8, Lao 4-4, K. White 2-2, D. Robinson 2-2, Walker 2-2, Pacitti 0-1). Total fouls -- Nicholls State 18. UAA 11. Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- Nicholls State 19 (Foster 4). UAA 32 (Walker 6) Turnovers -- Nicholls State 14 (Foster 4). UAA 20 (C. Robinson 5). Assists -- Nicholls State 17 (Iles 5). UAA 18 (C. Robinson, K. White, Walker 4). Steals -- Nicholls State 8 (Iles 3). UAA 6 (Campbell 2). Blocked shots -- Nicholls State 4. UAA 1. Officials -- Haskins, Harris, McNew.
Nicholls State 30 28 -- 58
UAA 37 35 -- 72
By BETH BRAGG
bbragg@adn.com