HOUSTON – North Carolina A&T sophomore guard Kam Woods had the nets blazing early against No. 5 Houston at the Fertitta Center on Tuesday.  

But size and points deep inside the paint for the Houston Cougars outweighed Woods' shooting as the Cougars defeated the Aggies 74-46. The Aggies were playing their first game in 14 days because of exams. They dropped to 4-5 and 0-4 on the road with losses to powerhouses such as Iowa, Iowa State and the fifth-ranked Cougars. 

Woods finished the game with a season-high 26 points. He scored 17 of the Aggies' first 18 points by shooting 7-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Woods took a line drive pass from junior Marcus Watson and scored on an easy bank shot three feet from the basket to put the Aggies down five, 23-18, with 7:16 remaining in the first half. 

Houston (10-1) scored the next six points with two dunks and an easy layup. But senior Demetric Horton ended the run by taking a cross-court pass from Watson to knock down another A&T 3-pointer to cut Houston's advantage to 29-21 with 4:04 remaining in the first half.

Horton's three, unfortunately, served as the Aggies final points of the first half. The Cougars closed the half on a 7-0 run to take a 36-21 lead into halftime. Houston then scored the first 12 points of the second half to put the game away. The Aggies' first points of the half came at the 15:46 mark. Watson scored A&T's first field goal of the second half with a three two minutes later to cut A&T's deficit to 48-25. 

The Cougars took their biggest lead of the game, 34, on a Reggie Chaney dunk with 8:42 remaining to give the Cougars a 63-29 lead. The Aggies, however, did execute an excellent full-court press at the end of the game, leading to freshman Tyrese Elliott coming away with five steals. A&T had 12 steals for the game and has totaled 53 steals in their last four contests. 

Woods added six rebounds and three steals to his totals. Horton was the only other Aggie in double figures with 11 points, adding five rebounds and three steals. 

The Cougars out-rebounded the Aggies 46-26 and had a 22-6 advantage in second-chance points and a 42-14 edge in points in the paint. Marcus Sasser and Ja'Vie Francis led the way for Houston with 17 points. Francis secured a double-double with 15 rebounds. 

A&T will head to Las Vegas for the Chris Paul Boost Mobile HBCU Challenge with a 6:30 p.m. EST tip on ESPN+ against Texas Southern on Saturday, December 17. The next day the Aggies face Norfolk State on ESPNU at 2 p.m. EST.