No. 7 Houston basketball routed New Orleans 99-57 on Saturday afternoon at Fertitta Center with a wire-to-wire win.
UH was in complete control throughout and improved to 10-1 on the season. Four players scored 15 points, led by the freshman starters in point guard Kingston Flemings and forward Chris Cenac Jr.
99 points is the most Houston has scored in over two years. The Cougars shot 54% from the field and 48% from beyond the arc. Senior point guard Milos Uzan also dished out 10 assists with 0 turnovers.
Here are two takeaways from this dominant victory:
Takeaway #1: Huge bench impact
Houston basketball scored 48 out of its 99 points from its bench. Head coach Kelvin Sampson wanted more out of the bench unit, and they delivered on Saturday. Redshirt freshman forward Chase McCarty scored a career high 15 points in 14 minutes, along with 6 rebounds. He also hit three 3-pointers. McCarty has stood out as a key member of the bench and a strong rebounder.
Additionally, sophomore guard Mercy Miller continues to get better. Miller showed out against his father’s team, as Percy Miller (Master P) is the Head of Basketball Operations at New Orleans. The Los Angeles native put up 15 points, going perfect from the field, and is really becoming confident in his role. Miller is impressing with his all-around abilities.
Freshman guard Isiah Harwell has also been increasing his contribution. After scoring an early career high of 20 points in the previous game against Jackson State, the five-star guard added six points.
Senior guard Ramon Walker Jr. plays a critical leadership role for this team and also chipped in with a season-high eight points. The Cougars are quite deep this year, and Sampson may go nine men deep.
Takeaway #2: Houston playing like Houston
While UH is 10-1, the team has not been able to put it together, making more mistakes than usual. That is completely expected with two freshmen starting and a completely different look. The turning point may be happening now. The Cougars are starting to turn the corner and are playing the typical Houston basketball we’ve been accustomed to seeing from Sampson’s squad.
The physicality is on par as well as the rebounding. Defensively, they’ve started to play together and look confident as a team. It will likely take more time for them to reach their potential, but the sky is the limit with the talent they’ve got.
Up next for Houston basketball: vs. No. 17 Arkansas on Dec. 20 at 4:30 p.m. CST at Prudential Center, Newark, N.J.
[…] improved to 11-1 on the year, but stayed put in the AP poll. The Cougars have clearly improved over the past few weeks, and it showed, comfortably taking down a talented Razorbacks team led by […]