No. 5 Houston basketball picked up its 14th win in Big 12 play with an 80-65 road win over Arizona State on Tuesday night.
In a matchup between two teams at opposite ends of the Big 12 standings, the top seeded Cougars downed the Sun Devils with poise that came early and often. The visitors entered halftime with a 16-point lead that extended to 23 at the start of the second half. The hosts sent out its reserves with less than a minute remaining in the contest.
Arizona State lost its seventh consecutive game at Desert Financial Arena, tying its second-worst streak since the venue opened in 1974. Meanwhile, Houston basketball won its 12th consecutive Big 12 road game, which is now the longest road winning streak in conference history.
“Unbelievable accomplishment…That’s something people will remember this program for,” Houston basketball head coach Kelvin Sampson said on the road win streak. “To be able to do that, you gotta have tough kids, talented kids, mentally tough kids…(I’m) very thankful for the staff I have and the players.”
Here are four takeaways from the game.
Takeaway #1: Sharp and the offense break out
While it was a struggle offensively with just 25 first half points vs Arizona on Saturday, Houston basketball broke out for 47 points in the first 20 minutes vs Arizona State. The Cougars had a hot start and shot 54% from the field in the first half. UH closed out the game on offense from the three point line, where they made seven triples in the second half. Overall, Houston basketball shot a remarkable 54% from beyond the arc in the last 20 minutes.
When the Sun Devils cut the deficit down to 15 with a dunk and under 10 minutes to go, junior guard Emanuel Sharp came to life from downtown, hitting back to back threes as the lead quickly jumped back over 20. It has been a rough stretch for Sharp, scored 0 points and was 0/6 from three vs Arizona. This was a huge bounce back game for a key offensive shot maker for Houston who is finding his way back after an ankle injury. Sharp hit a couple more triples later and ended up with 17 points on 4/7 shooting from beyond the arc in 30 minutes.
“Our best team is when Emanuel is playing well. We need him. He’s that guy,” Sampson said.
Takeaway #2: Complete all-around performance from Houston
UH put together a strong performance in all departments for a dominant Big 12 road win. Four players scored in double digits led by graduate guard LJ Cryer with 18 and six assists, graduate guard Mylik Wilson with 12, and 10 from graduate forward J’Wan Roberts. The Cougars shot 48% from the field and from downtown in the game, while making 11 threes.
Houston basketball was also great from the free throw line and made 17/20 shots for 85%. The Sun Devils were about average shooting wise, but UH got 20 points from turnovers, six steals, and out rebounded Arizona State by 11, including by five on the offensive glass. These are all very typical Houston numbers that make them very difficult to handle.
Takeaway #3: Quaintance, Sun Devil big men silenced against Cougars
Sun Devil fans were excited to see a familiar face, freshman forward Jayden Quaintance, back in uniform after his absence against No. 9 Texas Tech and TCU. Quaintance’s team needed him in those games for some interior presence. His athleticism guides Arizona State basketball, and Sampson commended his prowess before the game.
Big players means extra enforcement, and that’s what Houston basketball did.
Quaintance was held to zero points for the first time in Maroon and Gold. He finished the night with two rebounds, two assists, two fouls and two turnovers after 13 minutes.
Senior forward Basheer Jihad and junior center Shawn Phillips Jr., who played more minutes than Quaintance, also struggled against the side from Space City. They combined for only 11 points, five of which came from the free-throw line. They did not receive a lot of outlet passes that would often lead to easy layups and dunks.
“They really get after it on defense,” Arizona State basketball head coach Bobby Hurley said. “It feels like there’s six guys on the floor. The way they’re able to put two guys on the basketball and still rotate around…I knew we’d have our hands full.”
Houston basketball tormented its opponent, on the other side of the ball too with 13 offensive rebounds and four blocks. Graduate forward J’Wan Roberts led the Cougar forwards with 10 points.
“Knowing that Quaintance and Phillips, they’re shot blockers, (so) when I get into my move, try to think shot fake instead of trying to shoot over seven-footers,” Roberts said about his approach. “Just trying to pick out matchups (and) try to set ball screens.”
Takeaway #4: ‘Guard U’ mantra somewhat sticks with Sun Devils
Hurley was seen wearing a “Guard U” hoodie while his team did pregame warmups. It paid homage to the Arizona State basketball sides of a few years ago with players like Lu Dort, who currently plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
While the Maroon and Gold’s guards struggled defensively on Tuesday night, they found a rhythm for offensive production with the forwards stymied. Senior guard Alston Mason had a season-high 26 points and senior guard/forward BJ Freeman scored 17.
Mason has assumed responsibility since the Arizona game on Feb. 1 according to his head coach. He has landed in double figures in each game since that six-point showing, finding a spark as the team ball handler to take shots himself.
“I don’t feel pressure at all about anything in basketball,” Mason said when asked if he feels pressure to carry the team.
But there was pressure (both physically and mentally) on the team to get a victory. It is hard to do that with 13 turnovers with Houston basketball scoring 20 points off of them. Tuesday night showed a team that not just lost, but were outplayed, which has led to a defeated locker room once again.
“I think once we get a win under our belt, we can kind of ease into what’s going on and really get back to the team we were,” Mason said.
The Guard U era featured teams similar to this edition. A great start to the season followed by below-.500 play in conference. But those teams still made the NCAA tournament.
This year’s Arizona State basketball team will need a miracle (most likely in the form of a Big 12 championship) to replicate that.
Up next for No. 5 Houston (22-4, 14-1 Big 12): vs. No. 8 Iowa State (21-5, 11-4 Big 12)– Sat. Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. EST
Up next for Arizona State (12-14, 3-12 Big 12): at Kansas State (13-13, 7-8 Big 12)– Sun. Feb. 23 at 4 p.m. EST