Francis scores 23, No. 3 Houston beats McNeese State 83-44

Published Dec. 21, 2022 10:04 p.m. ET

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HOUSTON (AP) — Ja’Vier Francis scored a career-high 23 points and had 13 rebounds as No. 3 Houston routed McNeese State 83-44 on Wednesday night.

Emanuel Sharp added 18 points while going 6 of 9 on 3-pointers for the Cougars, and Marcus Sasser hit 5 of 10 from long range and scored 17 points. The pair combined to shoot 9 of 14 on 3s in the first half.

Coming off a hard-fought 69-61 win at then-No. 2 Virginia on Saturday, Houston (12-1) had an easier time scoring. The Cougars went 11 of 20 from long range in the opening half and led 42-19 at the break.

Roberts Berze scored 13 points and Christian Shumate added 10 for McNeese State (3-10). The Cowboys lost their fourth straight game.

Houston shot 52.5% from the field, including 14 of 33 on 3-pointers. The Cougars outrebounded the Cowboys 43-22 and converted 16 McNeese State turnovers into 23 points.

McNeese State shot 37%, including 6 of 24 on 3s.

Houston used a 20-2 run over an 8 1/2-minute span of the first half to open a 27-9 lead on a 3-pointer by Tramon Mark with 4:40 remaining. Sharp had nine points in the run.

BIG PICTURE

McNeese State: The Cowboys fell to 0-4 this season against ranked opponents and 0-31 all-time. Each of the four losses this season were by at least 29 points.

Houston: The Cougars finished with 12 regular-season nonconference wins, tied for second-most in a season behind the 13 they had in 2018-19. ... Houston held a 20-4 advantage in second-chance points. The Cougars had 23 assists on 32 baskets.

UP NEXT

McNeese State: At Lamar on Dec. 31 to begin Southland Conference play.

Houston: At Tulsa on Dec. 28 to start American Athletic Conference play.

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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

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Marcus Sasser

Houston Cougars