Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Houston 84, Georgia St. 55
When: 7:20 PM ET, Friday, March 22, 2019
Where: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Officials: # Mike Schypers, # Ted Valentine, # Ray Natili
Attendance: N/A

Guard Corey Davis Jr. scored 15 of his game-high 26 points in the first half, and No. 3 Houston suffocated Georgia State's normally lethal perimeter shooting en route to an 84-55 victory in the first round of the Midwest Region on Friday night in Tulsa, Okla.

Houston (32-3) will face No. 11 Ohio State in the second round on Sunday, after the Buckeyes hung on to upset No. 6 Iowa State late Friday evening.

Houston led 40-31 at the half, and Davis then scored eight consecutive Cougars points in the first 2:50 of the second half to extend the edge to 50-33.

Davis did virtually all of his damage from long range. Seventeen of his first 20 shots were 3-pointers, and he made seven of those. Houston used a 21-3 run to lead by as many as 29 points, 73-44, with 6:01 left.

The Cougars put three other players in double figures: Fabian White Jr. with 14, Breaon Brady with 13 and Dejon Jarreau with 10. White grabbed 11 rebounds.

No. 14 Georgia State had made an average of 9.5 3-pointers per game this season, but the Panthers went just 6 of 23 (26.1 percent) from long distance against Houston.

Houston entered the game as the nation's leader in field-goal percentage defense, and the Cougars held Georgia State (24-10) to 18-of-60 shooting (30 percent).

The Cougars made six of their first eight shots to vault to a 15-3 lead 4 1/2 minutes into the game. Davis converted a four-point play by making his first 3-pointer of the game from the left wing despite heavy contact and then adding the free throw, and Brady hit back-to-back shots in the paint.

Davis' second 3-pointer of the game extended the lead to 18-5. The Panthers missed eight of their first nine shots in the first 6:44. Davis finished the first half with a team-high 15 points, hitting 4 of 9 from 3-point range.

The Cougars, one of the country's best rebounding teams, outrebounded Georgia State 24-13 in the first half and 51-27 overall.

D'Marcus Simonds kept Georgia State within striking distance with 11 first-half points. Simonds finished with a team-high 18.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Georgia St.   Houston
D'Marcus Simonds 18 Scoring Corey Davis Jr. 26
D'Marcus Simonds 2 Assists Dejon Jarreau 7
Damon Wilson 7 Rebounds Fabian White Jr. 11
Devin Mitchell 4 Free Throws Made Fabian White Jr. 4
Malik Benlevi 2 Steals Armoni Brooks 2
D'Marcus Simonds 1 Blocks Breaon Brady 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Georgia St. 55 30.0 6-23 13-17 5 24 1 6 7
Houston 84 51.6 8-29 10-13 22 46 5 3 11