Houston basketball beats Texas A&M Corpus Christi 87-51 to win their final non-conference matchup of the season and improve to 8-3.
The Cougars won their fourth straight game and fifth in their last six. This victory also marked the 100th win in the history of Fertitta Center, the home venue for Houston that opened in 2018. The overall record at home in the building is 100-6 and the longest home win streak in the nation for Houston extended to 29. Junior guard Emanuel Sharp poured in a game-high 18 points with a trifecta of triples for his 10th straight game with double-digit scoring.
Houston basketball jumped out to an 18-6 lead on some early three-pointers seven minutes in. The Islanders fought back and hung around, including cutting the lead down to single digits before the Cougars woke up again and extended it out to a comfortable 46-27 halftime lead after another barrage of threes from Milos Uzan and Cryer. A similar story continued in the second half, with the Cougars hitting threes right out of the break. Houston’s lead went over 30 with 13 minutes to go in the game and continued to maintain it with physical scoring in the paint. As usual, the forced turnovers by the Houston defense were active, scoring 27 points off the 13 turnovers created.
“It’s hard to connect dots when you have eight days to connect it,” coach Kelvin Sampson said. Having played just a couple days ago vs Toledo helps this team catch a rhythm as long breaks aren’t necessarily helping this team. Sampson believes they need to play more games.
Takeaway #1: Houston’s good shooting
Graduate guard LJ Cryer added 17 and led the way from beyond the arc, making five of his seven threes. UH shot an incredible 61% from the field and made 8/13 (62%) from downtown in the first half with Sharp scoring 15 of his 17 points in the period. Houston also did a good job in shooting free throws and made 21/25 (84%), something they have struggled with in the past.
Sophomore guard Terrance Arceneaux, who was in the starting lineup in place of the injured J’Wan Roberts who was out with a lower left leg injury, did terrific in his first start of the season and second of the year with 13 points and shot 50% from three (3/6).
Junior point guard Milos Uzan also hit both of his attempts from downtown while scoring 12 points and dishing 6 assists.
“Of all the guys that have had the toughest adjustment period for reasons out of his control was Milos,” coach Kelvin Sampson said. Sampson mentioned that Uzan had a very difficult job coming in as the new point guard for this program that has had only two for the last several years and is learning everything with fewer games, but has gotten better.
Overall, Houston basketball shot 49% from the field and 48% from three on one of the best shooting nights the team has had so far. The Cougars opened the game hot, making seven out of their nine shots out of the gates, including 4/6 from three. UH never trailed for the fourth straight game.
Takeaway #2: Big man blocking
In the frontcourt, sophomore forward Joseph Tugler and senior forward Ja’Vier Francis each had four blocks along with two steals. This was Tugler’s fifth 3+ block performance of the season already and the 17th of Francis’ career. These two also added a few hook shots in the paint offensively. This was an encouraging sign of a physical frontcourt even without Roberts. Graduate guard Mylik Wilson also had a game-high of 11 rebounds, a personal best.
“Everytime I look back, I think Jojo blocked 14 shots. He’s like an octopus, he’s everywhere,” Sampson said.
Takeaway #3: Not much besides Garry Clark for Texas A&M CC
Senior Islanders forward Garry Clark scored a game-high 17 points for A&M Corpus Christi along with nine rebounds. Clark shot 45% from the field with a three and was the only player for the Islanders who found some offensive success. Usually against Houston, the opposition’s best player is shut down, but Clark still was able to put up some shots. Obviously, having only his effort is not enough to beat a team like Houston at home.
Up next for Houston (8-3): at Oklahoma State (8-3) – Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. EST
Up next for Texas A&M CC (7-6, 1-1): vs. Schreiner – Dec. 29 at 4:30 p.m. EST