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No. 5 Houston’s Division I-leading defense swarmed over visiting Oklahoma State on Tuesday night to take a 79-63 victory in a Big 12 matchup.

Behind Jamal Shead’s game-high 23 points, Houston shook off a 78-65 loss from Saturday at Kansas by showing its defense at its best.

The Cougars came into Tuesday allowing only 54 points per game. Houston had 11 steals against the Cowboys, forced 17 turnovers and scored 24 points off them.

Houston (20-3, 7-3 Big 12) stayed in first place in the league and improved to 13-0 at home.

Oklahoma State (10-13, 2-8) remains in last place as the teams passed the midway point in conference play.

Shead shook off a subpar effort in which Kansas held him to seven points. Emanuel Sharp scored 16 points with three 3-pointers and Mylik Wilson added 12 points for Houston.

Javon Small led Oklahoma State with 18 points, buoyed by 12-for-14 foul shooting. John-Michael Wright scored 13 with three 3-pointers.

The Cougars started out the second half with a bang as LJ Cryer fed J’Wan Roberts for a two-fisted dunk and doubled up the score at 42-21.

Houston continued to build its lead with high-percentage shots and smooth ball movement, pulling out to a 67-39 lead with 9:54 left on Cryer’s pair of free throws.

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson was ejected after getting back-to-back technicals with 8:27 left in the game and his son Kellen Sampson coached the rest of the game.

Shead had 17 of his points in the first half as he guided the Cougars to a 40-21 halftime lead.

Wilson scored on a highlight-reel, one-handed jumper with his back to the basket for a three-point play that put the Cougars up 18-8.

Oklahoma State didn’t get past the 10-point mark until Wright hit a 3-pointer from the top with 8:38 left in the half to cut Houston’s lead to 22-11.

–Field Level Media