Houston basketball opened up Big 12 conference play on Saturday with a 67-60 win at Cincinnati to improve to 13-1 on the season.
Houston basketball moved up one spot in the AP poll this week to No. 7 in the country thanks to that gritty win.
While it certainly was not Houston’s best game played by any stretch of the imagination, the Cougars got the job done in a tough road environment at Fifth Third Arena. Here are two takeaways from Houston basketball’s first Big 12 win of the season as well as looking ahead to No. 14 Texas Tech on Tuesday.
Takeaway #1: Clutch in the second half
The Cougars were down 10 points at 40-30 with just over 17 minutes to go. Senior point guard Milos Uzan and junior forward Joseph Tugler stepped up big-time down the stretch to pull this win out. Uzan was limited to just two points in the first half, but his experience came through when needed as he put up 16 points in the last 17 minutes.
That included four 3-pointers that he calmly knocked down like Uzan has done in many big games in the past. Every time that Houston needed a score, Uzan was there to provide it. He shot 50% overall from the field. Freshman point guard Kingston Flemings was the leading scorer with 19 points, but was fairly consistent in both halves as the engine of the Houston offense.
Tugler scored all eight of his points in the second half, including a second-chance dunk that effectively put the game away. His presence in the paint on both sides of the ball and getting second-chance rebounds in typical Houston culture was crucial to the win. The Cougars closed the game on a 7-0 run.
Takeaway #2: Need more Emanuel Sharp vs Texas Tech
Senior guard Emanuel Sharp has been considered the leader of Houston basketball this season and has been the leading scorer on the team with 15.9 points per game. Given how important he is, it was impressive that Houston ended up winning their first true road game in the Big 12 and Sharp only scored two points. He was held scoreless for almost the entire game, but made two free throws at the end to completely ice the game away.
His streak of a 3-pointer in 28 consecutive games came to an end on Saturday. Sharp will need to restart the streak beginning on Tuesday against Texas Tech. While all Big 12 games are battles, it will be another level of opponent against the No. 14 Red Raiders. Houston will need Sharp to make a strong contribution like he usually does, otherwise Tech is likely to walk away from Fertitta Center with the win.
The Cougars relied on their defense, and Flemings for the majority of the game. While the star freshman is talented, it does put a lot of pressure on the 18-year-old to deliver. We all know what Sharp can do. It’s possible he will show up and bounce back in a big way on Tuesday night against Texas Tech.