HOUSTON (AP) Danuel House had 18 points, including 8 of 8 from the line, as Houston held on for an 88-84 win over Central Florida Saturday.
Jherrod Stiggers added 17 points on 5 of 7 shooting from behind the arc, and L.J. Rose chipped in 12 points and seven assists for Houston (13-14, 5-9 American Athletic Conference), which snapped a two-game losing streak.
Tristan Spurlock had 21 points, and Isaiah Sykes added 19 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists for the Knights (10-15, 2-12).
Houston pushed its lead to seven with five minutes remaining, but the Knights answered with a quick 7-2 spurt to cut the lead to 74-72 on two Sykes free throws with 3:27 remaining.
The Cougars responded with 3-pointers by Brandon Morris and House, and two free throws by Rose over a 2 1/2 minutes stretch, to bump the lead to 10 with 55 seconds remaining.
UCF lost its 11th in 12 games despite shooting nearly 48 percent in the game and hitting on 8 of 17 beyond the arc.
TaShawn Thomas had 11 points for the Cougars, who shot 58 percent on the game, including 10 of 16 on 3-pointers in the contest.
Kasey Wilson and Justin McBride had 10 points apiece for UCF.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with 13 ties and 10 lead changes.
Houston shot just under 52 percent in the first half, including 4 of 7 from behind the arc, while UCF hit 48.5 percent and 5 of 9 on 3-pointers as the teams played to a 42-all tie.
