Milos Uzan poured in 26 points while hitting on five of his seven 3-point shots as host No. 5 Houston got back on the winning track with a 102-62 win over Colorado on Saturday afternoon in a late-season Big 12 Conference dustup.
The Cougars (24-5, 12-4 Big 12) shrugged off a ragged start to build a 26-point lead at halftime behind a balanced attack that had all eight players who saw the court score at least two points. Colorado never got closer than 21 points in the second half before the Cougars reasserted themselves, stretching the margin to 94-58 on Emanuel Sharp’s 3-pointer with 5:35 to play.
From there, Houston cruised to the finish to snap a three-game losing streak and dispel any doubts about its fitness for the season’s stretch run and the NCAA Tournament.
Joseph Tugler added 14 points for the Cougars, with Chris Cenac Jr. hitting for 12, Kingston Flemings scoring 11 and Sharp, Chase McCarty and Mercy Miller tallying 10 points apiece.
Isaiah Johnson led Colorado with 19 points. Bangot Dak added 15 and Sebastian Rancik had 11 for the Buffaloes (16-13, 6-10), who had a two-game winning streak snapped.
The Buffaloes built a 10-2 lead when Rancik hit a layup at the 17:09 mark of the first half, but Houston responded with a 15-6 run capped by a layup from Kalifa Sakho four minutes later to leapfrog to a 17-16 advantage. That margin grew to 23-16 after Flemings drove the lane for a layup with 11:58 left in the half that capped a 12-0 run for the Cougars.
Free throws by Jalin Holland and Rancik ended Houston’s run. But the Cougars began another surge, scoring 12 straight points and building the lead to 35-19 when Miller canned 3-pointer with 7:42 left until halftime.
Houston was up 43-27 when Colorado coach Tad Boyle was assessed his second technical foul of the game and ejected with 3:06 to play in the half. The Cougars finished the half on a 12-2 run to carry a 55-29 advantage into the break.
Uzan led all scorers with 16 points before halftime while McCarty added 10 for Houston, which shot 55.6% and broached the 50-point mark in a first half for the second time this season. Dak paced the Buffaloes with 11 points.
