Recap: Tulane vs. Houston

New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Joseph Young's layup and subsequent free throw with seconds remaining, proved to be the difference as the Houston Cougars downed the Tulane Green Wave, 96-94, in a Conference USA matchup at Devlin Fieldhouse.

Young finished the night with a game-high 32 points and nine assists, hitting all 13 of his opportunities at the free-throw line for the Cougars (18-11, 7-9 C-USA). TaShawn Thomas, Leon Gibson and Jherrod Stiggers all finished with 14 points for the visitors and with the win Houston locked up the No. 6 seed in next week's conference tournament and will face No. 11 seed Rice on Wednesday evening.

Kendall Timmons led the Green Wave (18-13, 6-10) with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Josh Davis added 21 points, Kajon Mack scored 16, Ben Cherry finished with 11 points and Jordan Callahan tallied 10. After losing to Houston, Tulane fell to the No. 8 seed in the C-USA Tournament and will take on No. 8 seed Marshall, also on Wednesday night.

After shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 6-of-15 from 3-point range, Tulane took a 46-43 lead into the break. Though they connected on 65.4 percent of their field goal tries before halftime, the Cougars were just 2-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc and were outscored 12-7 at the free-throw line.

In the second half Tulane led by as many as 12 points, but Houston refused to give up as the squad made good on 54.5 percent from the floor and 4-of-8 beyond the arc. As a group, the Cougars converted 13-of-14 at the charity stripe in the frame, the most important shot at the line coming from Young in the waning moments.

In a game that featured six ties and nine lead changes, the Green Wave turned the ball over 16 times and was outscored in the paint, 44-38.