Houston basketball gets its 20th win of the season, in a strong home win over rivals Baylor, 76-65. The score was far closer than the game actually was, with UH up by 22 with just over three minutes left.
This win marked the 31st 20-win season in program history and the 10th straight 20-win season under head coach Kelvin Sampson.
“For what coach Sampson has done here, it’s amazing and I just encourage everyone to appreciate him for what he’s built because this is a hard place to play. He deserves a lot of credit,” Baylor head coach Scott Drew said.
Houston has demonstrated their depth throughout the season, as five players scored in double digits vs Baylor. Sampson calls it one of their strengths. Graduate guard LJ Cryer led the way with 14 points and four 3’s and junior point guard Milos Uzan added 12 points and six assists.
It was back and forth early, as the Bears matched Houston’s buckets. A Jeremy Roach three was answered by Uzan. The Cougars scored some physical second-chance points in the paint.
Graduate guard Mylik Wilson hit a triple that built some separation at nine points 24-15. Houston reached a 10 point lead with just under 8 minutes to go. Baylor cut it back down to six before another timely three from junior guard Emanuel Sharp, followed up by Uzan on a floater.
Houston led 38-30 at the half, before the Cougars took control of the game in the second half that allowed a comfortable win.
Takeaway #1: Turnovers and second-chance points
Sampson calls them unscripted points, which also includes the fastbreak.
“It really is our oxygen, it makes us who we are. Our formula around here has not changed for a long time,” Sampson said.
There were many examples of these points changing the momentum from start to finish. On 1st defensive possession, Sharp forced a turnover and steal that resulted in him hitting a three on the other end. It was his first game back after recovering from an ankle injury.
“It’s good for him to go out there and get going,” Sampson said.
Just about two minutes later, there was another turnover and steal from Roberts, who this time fed to Cryer for a three and 10-5 lead. This set the tone for the rest of the game.
Houston basketball in total forced 15 turnovers, which resulted in 28 points, and committed just seven turnovers of their own. While the second chance points were in UH’s favor within usual amounts, the bench points were extremely dominant.
“Kellen did an excellent job with the scouting report. We didn’t even do tape, all we did was walk through how we were going to defend,” Sampson said.
The Cougars scored 24 points with their bench, compared to just one point for Baylor. Sophomore guard Terrance Arceneaux had 11 points, along with nine for Wilson. These bench points were critical in the second half.
Takeaway #2: Early second-half run
Houston basketball went on a 11-3 run to start the second half on a couple Cryer threes, where the lead extended to 15 capped off by a thunderous dunk by Arceneaux. When Baylor started to mount a comeback, Wilson had a steal which resulted in a huge three from Sharp.
It was followed up by a tough and-one from Uzan that brought it back up to 15. Before you knew it, Houston’s lead was at 25 points with six minutes to go. This was because of a 19-5 extended run filled with some threes, and tough buckets inside.
Takeaway #3: Baylor’s hot shooting start
The Bears shot 58% from the field in the first half as well as made 4/6 of their threes. This allowed Baylor to keep it close early, but what hurt them were obviously the turnovers and the lack of offensive rebounding
Baylor was able to cut the lead back down to nine on some threes and second chance points halfway through the second half, but UH went on a huge 17-1 run that put the game away.
The injury to junior forward Josh Ojianwuna the day before the game really hurt them in rebounding and they’ll have to adjust moving forward, head coach Scott Drew mentioned postgame.
Up next for No. 6 Houston basketball (20-4, 11-1): at No. 13 Arizona (17-7, 11-2) – Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. CST
Up next for Baylor basketball (15-9, 7-6): West Virginia (15-9, 6-7) – Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. CST
[…] Cougars enter this contest having won 16 out of their last 17 games. Houston is coming off a 76-65 win over Baylor at home on Monday, where graduate guard LJ Cryer led the way with 14 points and junior […]