Houston basketball got back on track with a 91-45 win over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns at home in Fertitta Center on Wednesday.
After trailing 10-6 early in the first half, UH went on a dominant 20-5 run that put the game firmly in their control.
Junior guard Emmanuel Sharp scored 7 straight points to start it, and ended up with 11 points total. After a slow offensive start, the Cougars got hot and made 15 of their last 24 shots, including their last 5, for a more than comfortable 51-25 halftime lead.
Houston improves to 28-2 after a loss since 2017 under head coach Kelvin Sampson and have now won 24 straight home games which is the nation’s longest active streak. The Houston basketball offense went to work in the victory, with a 45.6 FG% and over 43% from three. Junior point guard Milos Uzan had a complete performance, with 13 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds as well as graduate forward J’Wan Roberts, who had 11 points.
Takeaway #1: Terrance Arceneaux
The sophomore guard scored 14 points on his birthday along with a couple of threes and was the leading scorer in the game.
“I felt great today going out there and playing. I did not have too many problems with my foot like I did the last three games. I feel like I’m getting better, but I don’t feel like I’m all the way there yet,” Arceneaux said.
After tearing his Achilles last season vs Texas A&M in Toyota Center, it has been a long recovery back, but has steadily been improving. Arceneaux also had five rebounds and a steal on the defensive end.
“Every minute I can play Terrance, I do. The best thing Terrance did tonight was help us get lots of offensive rebounds,” head coach Kelvin Sampson said.
Takeaway #2: Typical Houston basketball defense
After what was a struggle in the second half vs Auburn, the Cougars got back to their physical and dominant defense at home. Houston forced 27 turnovers as well as 18 offensive rebounds, which resulted in 17 second-chance points. The Rajin Cajuns only shot 32% from the field and struggled after the first five minutes.
Takeaway #3: Bench strength (Mercy Miller)
In non-conference matchups like this, Houston basketball uses the bench and that unit was very effective vs Louisiana. Freshman guard Mercy Miller, who was a very high recruit as an elite scorer, put up 12 points in 21 minutes, along with two assists and four steals. Sampson wanted to involve him more in the rotation, and it allowed Miller to have his first double-digit scoring performance of his collegiate career. The Cougars had 29 bench points and gave them the majority of minutes. Graduate guard Mylik Wilson added seven points and four rebounds.
“Early in the season based on who you’re playing, every coach in America wants to play as many players as they possibly can. I didn’t reinvent the wheel with substitutions tonight, we did what we normally do,” Sampson said.
Next up for Houston (2-1): vs. Hofstra (3-0) – Nov. 22 at 8 p.m.
Next up for Louisiana (1-2): vs. Rice (2-1) – Nov. 19 at 8:30 p.m.