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Buy Photos HereHOUSTON – Senior
Anthony Odunsi recorded a career-high 26 points, turning in a monster 15-for-16 showing from the free throw line, as the HBU men's basketball team came back and defeated Rice, 77-73, on Wednesday night inside Sharp Gym.
Odunsi finished 5-of-7 from the floor with a made 3-pointer to go along with his collection for HBU (2-5) at the charity stripe. The 15 made free throws against the Owls (2-6), including a perfect 10-for-10 mark in the second half, is a career-high for the native of Sugar Land, Texas, and is the best showing by a Husky in a single game since the 2011-12 season when Marcus Davis finished 10-for-10 against Dallas Christian (12/10/11).
Junior
Colter Lasher finished with 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting with a pair of hits from deep and one free throw, also tying for the team lead with a season-high seven rebounds. Junior
Reveal Chukwujekwu also pulled down seven boards, as he and sophomore
Josh Ibarra each poured in 10 points. Junior
Cody Stetler scored a season-high nine points.
HBU shot 47.2 percent (25-53) from the field and 80.0 percent (24-30) from the line. The Owls followed suit with 22 made field goals and free throws apiece.
The Huskies were forced to play from behind for most of the first half. Down 28-18 with 5:08 to go, HBU caught fire. The Huskies outscored Rice 16-6 over the final five minutes, capped off by a 3-pointer at the buzzer from Lasher to tie the game 34-all heading into the lockerroom.
In the second half, HBU took its first lead of the game just 1:39 in with a 37-36 edge. Both teams then traded points for the majority of the period until Odunsi took over. Down 64-63 with 3:20 remaining, Odunsi accounted for 11 points with a 3-pointer and perfect 8-for-8 showing from the line down the stretch to ice the game. In addition, Chukwujekwu added two more makes in the mix, as HBU went 17-for-17 from the stripe in the second half to claim its third straight victory over the Owls, 77-73.
The Huskies will be back in action on Saturday, visiting Michigan in a 1 p.m. tip on ESPNU.
Postgame Quotes – Head Coach Ron CottrellOpening comments…"I'm really proud of the guys. I told them in the lockerroom that that was just two teams slugging it out. Both teams went back and forth, and it's been that way the last few seasons. It wasn't always pretty and there were some ugly plays with guys diving on the floor, but it was two teams who just really wanted to win in the worst way. I'm proud of my team."
On team refusing to give up…"We've had to really work with the guys as we've gone through this early part of the season with a lot of tough games. We've been staying together through, building chemistry, fighting through adversity, staying with it and just knowing that it is not always going to be easy. The guys have believed in that and they've continued to work and to fight.
"Even when it really wasn't going well, they still got stops to stay in the game until we could get to the rim. I thought it was very important for us to get to the rim as much as we could and finish. Free throws were also key. In the second half, Anthony (Odunsi) made all 10 of his attempts. Those were huge for us."
On senior Anthony Odunsi…"He wants to win so badly that he is going to take it on his shoulders when he feels we have to have something done. He has had to understand that sometimes you have to give the ball up and let the other guys get involved so it is easier for him later in a possession. He was patient tonight and he was able to do what he wanted to do.
