UH sets AAC 3-pointer record in rout of Tulsa

Rob Gray found his shooting touch Thursday night, and he brought along a few friends for the ride.

Houston set an American Athletic Conference record with 18 3-pointers in a 104-71 rout of Tulsa at H&PE Arena.

Just call them the Trey Ward Cougars.

The Cougars made 13 3s during a 59-point first half and kept firing away en route to breaking the old record, 17, set by Tulsa just a week earlier.

Gray, who had struggled in three games to begin conference play, had 34 points on 12-of-17 shooting.

After Armoni Brooks hit a corner 3 to tie the record, Gray hit his fifth from beyond the arc with about nine minutes remaining.

UH shot 53 percent (18-of-34) from 3-point range. Brooks had five of the Cougars' 3s, while Corey Davis Jr. and Wes VanBeck both had three.

Earlier in the week, Gray, a 6-1 senior guard, said he needed to return to "attack mode" and be more aggressive getting to the basket. That was evident as Gray had 15 points less than seven minutes into the game with a mixture of drives to the basket and shots from outside.

The 34 points were just three shy of Gray's career high set against Drexel during the first week of the season. It also moved Gray back into the top spot among AAC leading scorers at 19.6 points per game.

The Cougars led by as many as 40 points in the second half.

UH (13-3, 3-1 AAC) improved to 8-0 at home this season and bounced back from an 81-63 loss to ninth-ranked Wichita State.

The Cougars were never threatened, pulling away with a 22-4 run during the final 14 minutes of the first half. During the decisive run, Tulsa went nearly nine minutes without a field goal and missed 11 of 12 attempts.

Junior Etu, the Golden Hurricane's leading scorer at 17.1 points per game, did not score until a pair of free throws with 12:58 left. He was 0-for-6 shooting.