Cryer scores 17 to lead No. 6 Houston past West Virginia 63-49 for 13th straight win

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — L.J. Cryer scored 17 points and No. 6 Houston never trailed in beating West Virginia 63-49 on Wednesday night for the Cougars' 13th straight win.

Joseph Tugler added 12 points and Milos Uzan scored 10 for Houston (17-3, 9-0 Big 12).

The Cougars' 18-game league winning streak dating to last season is the second longest in Big 12 history.

West Virginia (13-7 4-5) has lost three straight. Big 12 leading scorer Javon Small was held to eight points, nearly 12 below his average.

Houston scored the first eight points of the game and led 39-19 at halftime. An 11-0 run for West Virginia to start the second half was only a temporary pause in the Cougars' momentum.

Houston held a 34-19 rebounding advantage in sweeping the regular-season series with the Mountaineers.

Takeaways

Houston: Cryer has averaged 20 points in six career games against the Mountaineers.

West Virginia: The injury-depleted Mountaineers have been held to 60 points or less in four of their last five games and under 20 points at halftime in their last two. They'll need to turn things around to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive under first-year coach Darian DeVries.

Key moment

After West Virginia trimmed a 20-point halftime deficit to 49-44 with 7:52 remaining, Cryer made a three-point play to start a 12-2 run that put the Cougars back ahead by double digits for good.

Key stat

West Virginia needed to play a nearly perfect game to have a chance, but shot 4 of 18 (22%) from 3-point range.

Up next

Houston: Hosts No. 22 Texas Tech on Saturday.

West Virginia: Plays at Cincinnati on Sunday.

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John Raby, The Associated Press