TULSA, Okla. — The most dangerous man in a fight, said Houston coach Tom Penders, is one that thinks he is already dead. He has nothing to lose.
That’s the attitude Penders wants his Cougars to take into their Conference USA quarterfinal matchup with Memphis on Thursday, after Houston eliminated East Carolina 93-80 in the first round Wednesday.
Aubrey Coleman scored 29 points, three above his nation-leading average, and Kelvin Lewis added 15 to pace the Cougars (16-15).
Houston made 13 of 26 3-pointers, shot 47 percent and had 19 assists against five turnovers.
Houston and Memphis split two regular season meetings, with Houston winning 92-75 at home and losing 92-77 at Memphis.
“According to (some people), Memphis is already in the tournament,” Penders said. “They don’t have anything to worry about. We’ve got everything to play for.”
Brock Young scored 24 points to lead East Carolina (10-21) in the final game for coach Mack McCarthy, who is taking an administration job at the school. East Carolina has yet to name a new coach.
“This game was a lot like our season,” said McCarthy, who went 34-57 in three seasons. “We had some really good moments and didn’t give up. But there were stretches where we made a lot of mistakes and you can’t overcome that. ...
“We had Coleman guarded as well as you can a few times, and he still makes shots. There’s a reason all those guys with NBA logos are down at the end watching.”
Houston led 78-52 with 11:44 to play before Penders began to run clock and empty his bench. East Carolina crept within 88-78 with 3:49 to play, forcing Houston to call timeout and put its starters back in the game. East Carolina got as close as 89-80 before Coleman scored his final basket on a layup with a minute left.
“We stayed real vanilla,” Penders said. “Hopefully we saved a few things for tomorrow.”
Darrius Morrow added 22 points for the Pirates, and Erin Straughn had 12.
The Pirates shot 58 percent in the first half, but still trailed 50-37 as Houston hit seven 3-pointers and Coleman scored 16 points. The Pirates shot 54.9 percent overall.
“It’s one of the few times I’ve had a team shoot over 50 percent and lose,” McCarthy said. “We had too many turnovers and gave up too many second-chance points.”
Houston led 36-32 late in the first half before going on a 14-5 run in the final three minutes.
Sean Coleman, who started his career at Tulsa, hit two early 3-pointers in the second half as the Cougars pushed the lead to 58-39. Sean Coleman finished with 11 points and Desmond Wade added 13.
