Emanuel Sharp scored 17 points and Milos Uzan added 15 as No. 3 Houston needed less than 24 hours to recover from its first loss of the season by getting past Notre Dame 66-56 in a consolation game of the Players Era men’s championship at Las Vegas.
Joseph Tugler scored 10 points with eight rebounds as the Cougars (7-1) led by as many as 22 points in the first half then held off a second-half run from the Fighting Irish (5-3).
Houston shot just 33.9% (20 of 59) from the floor and won after losing a slugfest against Tennessee 76-73 on Tuesday when the Cougars committed 21 fouls and saw their opponent shoot 29 free throws. They committed 17 fouls against the Fighting Irish.
After scoring a season-high 25 points Tuesday, Houston’s Kingston Flemings scored one point on 0-of-4 shooting from the floor with five assists in 21 minutes.
Markus Burton scored 19 points and Jalen Haralson added 14 for Notre Dame, which went 1-2 at Las Vegas after losing to Kansas on Monday. The Fighting Irish shot 34.0% (17 of 50) from the floor and were outrebounded 44-34.
Houston got off to a sizzling start, taking 26-4 lead just over 10 minutes into the game. The Cougars still had a 22-point lead at 34-12 with 5:21 left in the first half.
Notre Dame started a push with just over three minutes remaining before halftime by going on a 13-5 run heading into the break. The run continued into the second half with the Fighting Irish getting inside of double digits at 46-37 with 13:35 remaining in the game.
Houston’s advantage was just 50-46 with 10:31 remaining before going on an 8-0 run, all on free throws, to lead 58-46 with 8:07 left.
Despite going nearly five minutes without a field goal, in a drought that ended on a Kalifa Sakho layup with 5:49 left, the Cougars still were able to open a 62-49 advantage.
