No. 1 seed Houston basketball looks to get over the hump this time in the sweet 16 vs the no. 4 seed Purdue Boilermakers and head back to the elite eight for the first time since 2022.
Game information:
Teams: Houston (32-4) and Purdue (24-11)
Tip-off: Approximately 9:10 p.m. CST
Watch: TBS/TruTV
Listen: KPRC 950
UH advanced to their sixth straight sweet 16 with a big win vs a high quality Gonzaga team that was not a typical eight seed. Houston won 81-76 where graduate guard LJ Cryer tied his career high with 30 points. The Cougars also beat 16 seed SIUE in the first round 78-40. Houston has won their last 15 games entering this contest.
Unfair traveling not a concern:
Houston was placed in the Midwest region of the bracket, which has now taken them to Indianapolis Ind. to play at Lucas Oil Stadium. This has been talked about as unfair to the Cougars as the Purdue campus is just under 70 miles away from the site of the game.
Not only Purdue, but Kentucky and Tennessee are much closer to home than Houston, who have had to travel over 1000 miles to get to the game location. It is expected that this would be an unofficial Purdue home game, but that is not an issue or concern for Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson and the team.
The Cougars went an undefeated 10-0 in Big 12 road games, the best record in conference history. Whether they travel or play at home, it does not make a difference. Houston has already gone into hostile environments this season and won. Most likely, they will have to do that again on Friday night using the same idea of toughness.
“We pride ourselves on being tougher than the other team. Whenever you go in road environments, that’s the only way to get a win. We’ve got a lot of success doing that, & we’re gonna keep that formula,” graduate forward J’Wan Roberts said.
While the program has been encouraging Houston fans to make the trip to Indy, the team understands the support they will get in this situation. The Cougars are treating this like a road game.
“Our toughness and grit really travels on the road with us,” junior point guard Milos Uzan said.
With the Sweet 16 and elite eight in this region being at Lucas Oil Stadium, it brings a final four type atmosphere playing basketball in a NFL stadium. This reminded Cryer of his memories of winning the national championship with Baylor in this same building back in 2021.
“We got the same locker room as that year. When I walked in there today, I kind of got the chills a little bit. A lot of good mojo for sure,” Cryer said.
Many players such as Uzan have not played in such a setting before, to where a potentially new issue sets up; depth perception and shooting in a football stadium. While Cryer has already played in that, he hasn’t said too much in advice to teammates.
“I know it’s a different venue. Depth perception can throw you off a little bit. But just be confident and trust your work,” the All-Big 12 first team member said.
Matchup vs Purdue:
The Boilermakers enter this sweet 16 matchup with a 76-62 win over 12 seed McNeese State where junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn had a game high 22 point and 15 rebound double-double. Purdue finished fourth overall in the Big 10 conference and lost in the quarterfinals of the tournament to Michigan.
After facing standout Gonzaga point guard Ryan Nembhard in the second round, it’s another elite point guard that Houston will have to deal with in junior Braden Smith, a finalist for the Naismith player of the year award, whose other nominees include Cooper Flagg, Johni Broome and Walter Clayton Jr.
Smith is second on the team with 16 PPG, but leads them with 8.5 APG and 2.2 steals per game.
“Basketball IQ off the charts, he’s arguably the best point guard in the nation,” Sampson said.
Kaufman-Renn leads the Boilermakers in scoring with 20.3 PPG and 6.5 RPG.
“Braden Smith, Kaufman-Renn, Loyer, they’re all winners. They’ve been to a level that proves what a great program Purdue is,” Sampson said. “Purdue has always been one of the great programs, not just good teams, but great programs in our game.”
Roberts explains what will be key for Houston basketball in this matchup, where the bigs and play inside the paint always is a big factor in March Madness.
“Trying to limit them to one shot, they’re a good offensive rebounding team,” Roberts said.
Sophomore forward Joseph Tugler plays a big role defensively for the Cougars and will need to step up just like he did vs Gonzaga in his double-double performance.
“Him getting hurt last year was a big blow to our team, so I’m happy he got a chance to play in this tournament,” Roberts said.
Purdue head coach Matt Painter had great things to say about Houston, mentioning it’s a whole other animal facing the Cougars in person versus on tape.
“They had to earn their way here. If you look at Houston, you could argue that they’re the best team in the country, especially after their first five games,” Painter said.
Painter and Sampson have faced each other three times in the past, all during Sampson’s Indiana tenure where he won two of them.
Learning from Gonzaga:
While Houston basketball never gave up the lead, the Cougars saw their double digit lead evaporate to just one with under a minute to go. While Gonzaga’s pressure was not handled well, UH looks to learn from what happened to help them going forward.
Uzan admitted how their 1-3-1 press was causing some issues, but he believes they will be fine now.
“I got to do a better job of taking care of the ball, knowing they’re gonna press us and speed us up, so we worked on that,” Uzan said. We were too passive, we were seeing the clock and taking good shots instead of being aggressive.”
While there were some turnovers towards the end of the game, Sampson is confident in his point guard after his first two NCAA tournament games of his career, describing his excitement to be in this moment.
“The way I evaluate point guards is the scoreboard, he’s 2-0 so I think he’s done pretty good,” Sampson said.
Cryer shared the same mindset that Uzan had after the last few minutes vs Gonzaga, to not play conservative in those situations and just go score.
“We were playing like we were up & not to lose when we could have advanced the ball & tried to go get a basket,” Cryer said.
The All-America guard believes that Uzan has not changed and has the right mindset to be successful in these games, not playing timid but treating it like any other game.
“We’re gonna continue to need him to be aggressive & play his game because when he’s at his best we’re at our best,” Cryer siad.
Roberts mentioned that his main takeaway from the end of the Gonzaga game is to go for the kill shot and put a team away when the chance is there because of how good teams are in the tournament at this point. The long media timeouts allow a team to rest properly and get back out there fresh.
“When you have a good team on the ropes, you’ve got to kill them,” Roberts said. “When you have a lead in March Madness, you have to keep that lead.”
The Cougars will try not to make those same mistakes, but carry over the good performance they had early to take control of the game.
Mylik Wilson:
Graduate guard Mylik Wilson played a huge role in the second round win, corralling multiple key rebounds late and making plays that can’t be seen on a basic stat sheet. Houston basketball will need their spark off the bench once again vs Purdue to get those boards.
“Wherever the ball is, Mylik seems to be there. Off the court he’s such a sweetheart of a kid, on the court he has a killer in him,” Sampson said.
Wilson mentioned how being able to get those rebounds has added value to his game.
“I’ve always been a great rebounder & this program emphasizes that,” Wilson said.
His teammates have known what kind of quality player Wilson is for a long time, even before he showed it in the second round or at Allen Fieldhouse vs Kansas.
“He does the little things, his points may not scream at you but he’s gonna get key blocked shots, rebounds and dive on the floor,” Cryer said.
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