Different year, same result.
While this year’s game did not come down to the buzzer, No. 1 UH choked away a 15-point second-half lead as eighth-ranked Alabama stunned the Cougars with a 71-65 victory in front of a record-breaking 7,718 Fertitta Center crowd.
This was the second time the Crimson Tide knocked off No. 1 this season, having defeated top-ranked North Carolina at the Phil Knight Invitational over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Jamal Shead led UH with a season-high 19 points, including a poster dunk on Alabama’s 6-foot-8-inch Noah Gurley late in the first half.
Preseason All-American guard Marcus Sasser could not find his touch, being held without a field goal in the first half and finishing with with nine points on 2-of-11 shooting.