Sasser, Mark lead No. 17 Houston to win over Lamar

HOUSTON (AP) — Marcus Sasser scored 25 points, Tramon Mark added 22 points and eight rebounds and No. 17 Houston opened its season with an 89-45 win over Lamar on Wednesday.

Sasser shot 9 of 11, including 7 of 9 on 3-pointers. DeJon Jarreau had nine points and eight rebounds, and Quentin Grimes chipped in eight points and seven rebounds.

The Cougars, who entered the season ranked for the first time since starting the 1983-84 season at No. 3, shot 42% from the field. Houston finished 13 of 33 on 3-pointers and outrebounded the Cardinals 49-34.

Anderson Kopp scored 15 points and Avery Sullivan added eight points and seven rebounds to lead Lamar. The Cardinals shot 30%, including 1 of 13 on 3-pointers.

Playing in front of a 25% capacity crowd, the Cougars started slowly before finishing the first half on an 18-4 run to take a 35-15 lead into halftime. Sasser scored nine of his 19 first-half points during the run.

The Cardinals got no closer than 15 in the second half.

BIG PICTURE

Lamar: The Cardinals shot 20% from the field in the first half and went the final 6 1/2 minutes without a field goal. Lamar, which was picked to finish fifth in the Southland Conference, hung with the Cougars for most of the first half, but Houston’s size and athleticism were too much.

Houston: The Cougars were playing without preseason American Athletic Conference player of the year Caleb Mills, who sat with an injury. Houston forced 22 turnovers and eight blocks and had a 37-9 advantage in bench points.

MOVING UP

Kelvin Sampson notched his 640th career win, moving him into a tie for 44th on in NCAA history with Homer Drew. Sampson is one win behind Billy Tubbs. Sampson also coached his 200th game at Houston and is 140-60 with the Cougars.

UP NEXT

Lamar plays at Tulane on Friday.

Houston hosts Boise State on Friday.

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