Kelvin Lewis and Aubrey Coleman teamed up to make a bad trip for No. 25 Oklahoma even worse.
Lewis scored 28 points and Coleman added 27 to power Houston to a 100-93 win Thursday night and send the reeling Sooners to their third straight loss.
Oklahoma (2-3) squandered an 18-point first half lead a night after it was beaten by San Diego.
"We built a big lead, and I thought we relaxed. When we relaxed we became careless with the basketball," he said. "They made us pay."
Coleman and Lewis delivered the punishment for Houston, and coach Tom Penders called the duo "Fire and Ice."
"When they get cooking together, not that many teams have that depth," he said.
Oklahoma started another run to open the second half, increasing its lead to 10 a little more than four minutes in.
But Houston (2-1) then went on a 11-0 run, and took the lead at 64-63 when Lewis made a 3-pointer at the 13:09 mark.
"We made four or five steals that blew the game open," Penders said.
The teams were tied at 71 with about 10 minutes left before Houston went on a 19-4 run to close out the Sooners.
Coleman scored 10 points, including six free throws, in the last 10 minutes to help keep the Sooners at bay.
Willie Warren led Oklahoma with 25 points and Steven Pledger scored 20 of his 23 in the first half. Tiny Gallon had 15 points and nine rebounds.
Oklahoma lost to Virginia Commonwealth last Saturday, then dropped its first game in the Alaska tournament to San Diego on Wednesday.
"Once they find themselves, and I think it will be in the next two games here, they will be one of the elite teams in the country," he said.
The Great Alaska Shootout is sponsored by Carrs/Safeway.
