BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (November 12, 2017) – Coach
Kevin Nickelberry and the Howard University Men's Basketball team battled, but fell on the road at Indiana (IU), 86-77.
Freshman guard
RJ Cole had another stellar performance, recording 27 points and eight assists in 39 minutes of action.
Redshirt freshman
Kai Tease connected with a trey ball and put the Bison ahead, 14-13, with under nine minutes remaining in the half. Nearly 30 seconds later, IU regained the lead, but another long ball from Tease put Howard back on top, 17-16, at the 7:25 mark.
With less than six minutes left before intermission, Indiana's De'ron Davis made both free throws and gave the Hoosiers a three-point lead, 23-20. At this point, IU would create separation as they closed the half on a 14-7 run and take a 10-point advantage into halftime, 37-27.
HU scored 39 off the bench, led by newcomer
Kyle Foster with 16 points. Fellow classmate
Zion Cousins grabbed a team-high 10 boards in a losing effort.
IU opened the second half on a 10-2 spurt and held their largest lead of the game, 47-29, with 17:11 remaining.
Howard slowly chipped away at the deficit and found themselves within 10 after a three-pointer from Cole with 11:36 left in the game, 55-45.
Indiana refused to let HU back in the game, holding a double-digit lead for majority of the half.
HU continued to battle and sliced the margin down as low as eight, but the comeback would fall short.
For Indiana, they shot 54-percent (33-of-61) from the floor and score 48 points inside the paint. Justin Smith registered a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards. Davis had a team-best 17 points in the victory.
Howard concludes its three-game road swing at No. 18 Gonzaga. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. (ET).
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at
www.HUBison.com.