A record-setting night from Michael Buckner and sophomore Travis Barker’s return added up to Houston’s first conference win of the season.
Buckner established a new single-season 3-point record and Barker had a double-double as the Tigers downed Ava 63-56 on the road Friday night for their first conference win of the season.
“It’s nice to get that first conference win,” said Houston coach Aaron Griffin, who was among several area coaches to wear tennis shoes to raise awareness for cancer as part of Coaches vs. Cancers weekend. “We needed one for our confidence.”
Buckner hit five of Houston’s nine 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 21 points. The sharp-shooting junior, who also had seven rebounds and seven assists, has made 70 triples– eclipsing the team mark of 67 made by Nick Carter during the 2003-’04 season.
“When he shoots it, we think it’s going in,” Griffin said of Buckner, who was 5-for-13 from downtown against the Bears. “He’s got such a nice shot that we kind of give him the freedom, when he’s not too far out, to shoot it.”
The teams combined to attempt 49 3-pointers — just 17 more shots than taken inside the arc. But while Houston shot a respectable 36 percent (9-for-25), Ava missed 19 of its 24 attempts.
Houston led 25-18 after one quarter and by six at the half. The advantage disappeared as Ava used a 22-15 third quarter for a one-point advantage, but the Tigers switched to a zone defense to combat the Bears’ dribble penetration and quickly regained the lead in the opening moments of the fourth.
Senior Tyler Pounds hit a pair of 3s en route to 20 points and Barker, returning from a mandatory one-game suspension, had 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 10 rebounds.
Barker, whose aggressiveness often leads to foul trouble, also had two blocks while committing just one foul.
“There was a lot of contact and it was a very physical game, but he kept his head and played hard,” Griffin said. “He really added to what we did.
Houston 25 8 15 15 — 63
Ava 18 9 22 7 — 56
HOUSTON (5-14, 1-4) — Russo 1 1-3 3. Buckner 6 4-6 21. O’Neil 3 0-2 8. Barker 5 1-2 11. TPounds 7 4-4 20. Totals 22 10-17 63.
AVA (6-15, 0-5) — Batcheller 6 0-0 13. Bruffett 6 1-1 14. Parker 1 0-0 2. Plumb 0 0-2 0. Shortt 3 0-0 8. Smith 3 1-1 8. Wallace 5 0-1 10. Totals 24 2-5 55.
3-pointers: Houston 9 (Buckner 5, O’Neil 2, TPounds 2); Ava 5 (Shortt 2, Batcheller, Bruffett, Smith).