Carlton, Shead lead No. 14 Houston past Louisiana

HOUSTON (AP) — Josh Carlton had 17 points and nine rebounds, Jamal Shead added 16 points and No. 14 Houston beat Louisiana-Lafayette 71-56 on Tuesday night.

Taze Moore had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Fabian White Jr. finished with 12 points and nine rebounds and Kyler Edwards had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Cougars (9-2). Houston shot 39% and struggled on 3-pointers, making just two of 21 attempts.

Houston never trailed despite playing without leading scorer Marcus Sasser, starting forward Reggie Chaney and reserve guard Tramon Mark due to injuries. It was the Cougars' 32nd straight home win, earned by outrebounding Louisiana 48-37 and dominating the paint 46-18.

Jordan Brown led the Ragin' Cajuns (5-5) with 13 points and 14 rebounds, and Kentrell Garnett added 12 points. Louisiana shot 33% and 10 of 28 on 3-pointers.

After Louisiana cut the lead to 17-12 on a dunk by Brown, Houston used a 13-3 run to open up a 30-15 lead on a layup by Shead with 5 1/2 minutes left in the first half. The Cougars led 41-23 at the half.

Houston held a 57-42 lead following a dunk by Carlton, but Louisiana responded with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to seven on a 3-pointer by Garnett with eight minutes remaining.

The Cougars answered with an 8-2 spurt to push the lead to 65-52 on two free throws by Shead with 2:41 left.

BIG PICTURE

Louisiana: The Ragin’ Cajuns fell to 10-44 against ranked opponents. … Louisiana was able to get back into the game with stingy defense, limiting the Cougars to 29% shooting in the second half, but couldn’t finish the comeback, going 1 for 13 from the field down the stretch.

Houston: The Cougars have not lost consecutive regular-season games since three straight in January 2017. Houston has won 23 straight games after a loss over that span. … Houston forced Louisiana into 19 turnovers, which the Cougars turned into 22 points.

UP NEXT

Louisiana: Hosts Loyola (La.) on Monday.

Houston: Plays Oklahoma State in the College Basketball Showcase in Fort Worth on Saturday.

___

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25