Armoni Brooks sparks Houston in win over Prairie View A&M

Before an in-bounds play, Houston point guard Galen Robinson Jr. had a message for Armoni Brooks.

"We need a spark," Robinson told Brooks. "We just need something to get us going."

Robinson called a play for Brooks, who drained a 3-pointer as the Cougars began to pull away midway through the second half in Sunday's 92-72 win over Prairie View A&M at H&PE Arena.

"Once I hit that 3 he was like, 'Oh, yeah, it's on," Brooks said. "So from here on out he told me every time you catch it, shoot it. I was just following my point guard's instructions."

Brooks, UH's sophomore sharpshooter, had a career-high 24 points and six 3-pointers as the Cougars improved to 6-0 this season at their temporary home on the Texas Southern campus.

Before Sunday, Brooks' previous career highs for points (22) and 3-pointers (five) came in the season opener against McNeese State. He entered the game eighth in the American Athletic Conference in 3-point percentage (44.7).

"My teammates call me a microwave scorer," Brooks said. "If I hit one three, the next two or three might go in. I might go through a little drought, but once I hit another it's back on. They say once I get one bucket there's more to come."

Brooks did most of his damage in the second half, making 6-of-7 shot attempts for 18 points. When the Panthers took a 62-61 lead with 11:13 remaining, Brooks hit 3-pointers on three straight trips down the floor. UH ended the game on a 31-10 run.

"When Armoni gets in one of those rhythms he can make it," Sampson said. "He's the best contested shot shooter on the team."

The Cougars played most of the second half without leading scorer Rob Gray, who was limited to five minutes in foul trouble. That allowed coach Kelvin Sampson to go with different combinations of Corey Davis Jr., Wes VanBeck and Brooks. The Cougars shot 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from 3-point range.

"I wasn't really worried," Sampson said about Gray picking up his fourth foul with 14:36 remaining. "Now you've got more shooters on the floor. You always have two shooters on the floor. On a night when two of them are hot, three of them are hot, we're tough to beat."

Corey Davis Jr. added 15 points, including four 3s, Gray had 11 and Devin Davis and VanBeck chipped in 10.

UH committed a season-high 19 turnovers – 14 coming in the first half – that allowed the pesky Panthers (2-9) to keep the game close. Defensively, UH held Prairie View A&M to 38.5 percent shooting in the second half and without a field goal for the final 4:44.

"I was proud of our guys for just hanging in there, fighting through it," Sampson said.

Dennis Jones and Zachary Hamilton (four 3s) both had 18 points for Prairie View A&M, coached by former UH star Byron Smith.

"I can't tell you how impressed I was with what a great job Byron did having his team ready to play," Sampson said. "He deserves a lot of credit."