OZARKSFIRST

Sasser scores 25, No. 2 Houston beats Tulsa 80-42

HOUSTON (AP) Marcus Sasser scored 25 points and had five 3-pointers, Emanuel Sharp added 13 points and No. 2 Houston routed Tulsa 80-42 on Wednesday night for their fifth straight win.

Sasser scored 19 points on 8 of 13 shooting in the first half as the Cougars (23-2, 11-1 American Athletic Conference) built a 46-18 halftime lead. The senior guard had the first 12 points in a 24-2 run that gave Houston a 31-12 lead with six minutes remaining in the first half.

Houston shot 46%, including 13 of 35 on 3-pointers. The Cougars outrebounded Tulsa 53-27 and owned a 31-4 advantage in bench points. Houston also beat Tulsa 89-50 on Dec. 28.

Tim Dalger scored 13 points, and Sam Griffin added 11 points for Tulsa (5-18, 1-11).

The Golden Hurricane has lost five straight and fell to 0-9 on the road this season. Tulsa struggled from the field shooting 28% and making 4 of 29 on 3-pointers.

BIG PICTURE

Tulsa: The Golden Hurricane's last win over a team ranked in the top three was an 84-77 victory over No. 3 Louisville on Feb. 8, 1975. . Tulsa started the game 5 of 10 from the field and ended the first half 2 of 18 as Houston went on the game-deciding run.

Houston: The Cougars have won four straight games over Tulsa. . Houston improved to 10-0 in Quad 4 games. . Houston dished out 21 assists on 31 field goals, led by Jamal Shead, who had 12 assists.

UP NEXT

Tulsa: Plays at Central Florida on Saturday night.

Houston: Plays at SMU on Feb. 16.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Updated February 8, 2023