HOUSTON – The Texas State men's basketball team (9-3) closed out non-conference play on Thursday against a hot-shooting #13/#14 Houston (11-2) squad, falling 80-47 in the Fertitta Center.
 
"I thought we ran up against a juggernaut today. Obviously, Houston is one of the best teams in the country and has one of the best coaches to ever coach the game of basketball," said head coach T.J. Johnson. "Their ability to shoot the ball as well as they did played a factor but I think the most important factor was their ability to guard us. [Houston] took us out of everything we wanted to run, were super aggressive and physical."
 
"I thought we struggled a little bit with the physicality and speed of the game. Only shooting four free throws is a factor on the road and allowing our opponent to make 13 out of 28 three-pointers is a problem. We have a little way to go but I'm proud of the effort our guys have put forth thus far in the non-conference. We are going to get back to the drawing board and get ready for a tough Sun Belt Conference starting out with Troy and South Alabama."
 
The shots failed to fall early as the Bobcats missed their first five field goal attempts before Caleb Asberry knocked down a long jumper. Isiah Small hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to 12-8 with 13:07 left in the first half.
 
Nine made three-pointers and shooting just over 58 percent from the field in the first half allowed the Cougars to take a 45-22 lead into halftime.
 
Coming out of the break, Nighael Ceaser slammed home the ball on the opening possession. Buckets from Shelby Adams and Asberry on the next two possessions forced UH to call a timeout nearly 90 seconds into the period.
 
The Cougars would put together a 15-0 run spanning more than seven minutes to put any hopes of a Texas State upset to an end.
 
Over the final 3:28, the Bobcats outscored UH 10-2 with the final bucket of the contest being a three-pointer courtesy of Nate Lacewell.
 
Adams was the lone TXST player to reach double-figures with 10 points, all of which came in the second half. The senior finished 3-of-6 from the field and knocked down both of his long-distance attempts.
 
Ceaser came off the bench to net nine points, grab three rebounds and shared the team lead by dishing out three assists along with Drue Drinnon. Small added eight points behind two first half treys and retrieved four boards.
 
Next up for the Bobcats is Troy to open Sun Belt Conference play. The contest is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. inside Strahan Arena.
 
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