No. 1 Houston holds off UCF, seals piece of Big 12 title

L.J. Cryer scored 25 points as top-ranked Houston recovered from a sluggish start and clinched at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season title with a 67-59 victory over UCF on Wednesday in Orlando.

Cryer scored 19 after halftime when the Cougars (27-3, 14-3 Big 12) outscored the Knights 39-28. He hit three of his five 3-pointers in the second half, including a triple that made it 58-50 with 3:57 remaining and another to give Houston a 63-54 lead with 2:19 left.

Cryer made his final five shots, including a jumper for a 65-59 edge with 81 seconds left to essentially clinch Houston's eighth straight win. He scored 20-plus points for the third game in a row.

Jamal Shead added 16 points and eight assists for Houston, which shot 43.1 percent. J'Wan Roberts contributed 10 of his 12 points in the first half to keep Houston close, and Ja'vier Francis added 10 points and eight rebounds as the Cougars earned their ninth straight victory over the Knights (15-14, 6-11).

C.J. Walker scored 15 points for the Knights, who fell to 0-3 all-time when facing the top-ranked team. Darius Johnson added 14 and Jaylin Sellers contributed 12 as UCF shot 45.5 percent but also committed 18 turnovers.

The Knights took their third seven-point lead when Walker's jumper made it 25-18 with 6:19 left in the first half. UCF held the Cougars to 10 points the rest of the half but did not score again until Johnson's putback with 12 seconds left gave them a 31-28 lead entering halftime.

UCF took a 37-31 advantage on a basket by Sellers following a Houston turnover a little over three minutes into the second. Houston gradually made its move, forging a 42-42 tie on a dunk by Francis with 12:40 left and never trailed again after Shead's 3-pointer on the next possession.

Shead's second trey of the game rolled in the hoop and pushed the lead to 55-46 with 6:13 left, and Cryer hit his two big 3-pointers down the stretch to secure the victory.