No. 8 Houston basketball only played in one game this past week, but it was a big one. The Cougars got their best win of the season so far against what was No. 14 Arkansas, 94-85 in the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, at the Never Forget Tribute Classic.
Houston 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 Hall of Fame head coach John Calipari.
Here are two takeaways from the game.
Takeaway #1: Offensive explosion
Houston basketball put up 94 points, their most against a ranked team in regulation in over 15 years. UH scored 100 points against #25 Oklahoma back in 2010 at the Great Alaska Shootout that time.
The Cougars had four players in double digits and shot 52% from the field, including 44% from three-point range. Houston put up nearly 50 points at halftime. Senior guard Emanuel Sharp was the leading scorer with 22 points, 16 of them in the second half.
Freshman point guard phenom Kingston Flemings came through again vs ranked competition with 21 points, six rebounds, and five assists, along with just one turnover. Senior point guard Milos Uzan had an effective 13 points on 5/10 shooting. Even though the Houston defense was not the story of the day, UH was able to win. That may not have happened in years past. The Cougars could likely develop into one of the best offenses in recent program history with all their talent.
Sampson jokingly said postgame to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports that “We used to be a defensive school, maybe this way we’ll win one more game.” The offense certainly got them this victory. The 19 points off turnovers were key.
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Takeaway #2: Bench finds a way
Houston basketball was a bit short-handed when it came to the big men in this game. Junior forward Joseph Tugler only played 15 minutes as he picked up his fourth foul early in the second half. He was still able to chip in offensively with eight points. Additionally, freshman starting big Chris Cenac Jr. was limited to 23 minutes due to foul trouble of his own. Cenac Jr. added nine points and seven rebounds.
The Cougars were still able to get it done and change up their defensive strategy a bit. The biggest boost off the bench was senior guard Ramon Walker Jr. An experienced culture leader, he provided 12 points and two triples along with four rebounds. His buckets also came at a crucial time. Houston was clutch and made their threes when they needed to from a wide number of players, such as Sharp, Uzan, freshman guard Isiah Harwell, and freshman forward Chase McCarty.
Harwell received a special shoutout from Sampson for how he played as Houston went up 21 early thanks to his back-to-back threes.
Up Next for Houston basketball: vs Middle Tennessee on Monday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m.
[…] faced No. 18 Arkansas a few weeks back and dominated 94-85. They also beat then No. 21 Auburn in Birmingham as well as Florida State in the Houston Hoops […]
[…] put up 99 points against then No. 19 Arkansas and now crossed the 100-point mark in regulation for the first time in over three years. This was […]
[…] put up 99 points against then No. 19 Arkansas and now crossed the 100-point mark in regulation for the first time in over three years. This was […]