No. 3 Houston Cougars men’s basketball dominates Oral Roberts in Monday night beatdown

The third-ranked Houston Cougars men’s basketball team continued its spectacular start to the season behind red-hot shooting nights from both Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark as UH trounced Oral Roberts 83-45.

Sasser’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the first half encapsulated how sensational of an offensive night it was for the Dallas native. He had 15 points on 2-of-3 shooting from behind the arc against Oral Roberts in just the first half. He ended the game with 19 points.

Not only did Sasser have a good shooting night, but he scored in every way imaginable against the Golden Eagles. He took defenders off the dribble and finished multiple crafty and difficult layups throughout the night.

Mark had a new career-high with 23 points in the game, 19 of which came in the first half. Mark also scored in various ways against the Golden Eagles. He excelled at taking on Oral Roberts’ defenders on the drive, pulling up for midrange jumpers, and hitting 3-pointers.

Houston (3-0) actually faced its first deficit of the season on Monday as Oral Roberts scored first in the game, but that did not last long. A second-chance basket by forward J’Wan Roberts and then a driving layup also by Roberts got the Cougars rolling, and they never looked back.

An 8-6 lead by the Cougars quickly turned into a 23-6 lead, which then turned into a 40-16 advantage. The Golden Eagles could not buy a basket in the first half, and it did not change much in the second half.

Oral Roberts guard Max Abmas had only three points on 1-of-13 shooting from the field. Fellow starting guard Issac McBride went 1-of-10 for five points.

Houston got back on track on the boards. After only out-rebounding Saint Joseph’s 41-40, which the Cougars have established as one of their calling cards under head coach Kelvin Sampson, they outrebounded Oral Roberts 52-30.

Sasser was among the top of the team on the glass as he had seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Ja’Vier Francis had a good stretch for the Cougars. In 16 minutes of action, he racked up 11 points and 11 rebounds in the game for a double-double.

Freshman Terrance Arceneaux also had a good showing in 22 minutes. He scored 14 points and added five rebounds for Houston.

The Houston Cougars return to action on Wednesday night against Texas Southern at Fertitta Center.