No. 10 Houston basketball returned home to Fertitta Center for the first time since mid-January and picked up where it left off with a 76-54 win over the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday afternoon.
Houston has won 16 home games in a row and improved to 19-2 on the season. UH is now second in the Big 12 standings with a 7-1 record.
Houston shot 46% overall from the field and generated 26 points off 19 Cincinnati turnovers. UH only turned it over four times total. While Houston lost the rebounding battle 35-29, that ultimately did not hurt the Cougars.
Here are two takeaways from the game.
Takeaway #1: More offense unlocked
Houston has a higher ceiling offensively this season with the variety of scorers. That was on display in this game. Senior point guard Milos Uzan, who has been quieter during the year, ended up being the leading scorer with 16 points and 5 assists on 7/12 shooting. Uzan got to his floater in the paint and showed more aggressiveness in attacking.
A big turning point in the game, noted by Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller, was the 3-pointers made by freshman big man Chris Cenac Jr. A five-point lead turned into a 12-point advantage. The game was relatively close at that point, but Houston basketball got some breathing room thanks to Cenac Jr. on fire from beyond the arc. He ended up with 13 points on 5/8 shooting. There is no doubt that Cenac Jr.’s offensive game can be quite strong.
Senior guard Emanuel Sharp has been consistent throughout the year and added 13, but a huge difference in this was freshman guard Isiah Harwell’s best game of his Big 12 career. He scored 13 points off the bench and two 3-pointers.
Freshman point guard Kingston Flemings has been the leading scorer throughout the year and has been on fire, but he cooled down in this game. It was partly due to the team being tired, according to coach Kelvin Sampson. It has been a long and busy week for the Coogs.
Sophomore guard Mercy Miller even chipped in seven off the bench due to the injury of redshirt freshman Chase McCarty. Junior forward Joseph Tugler played a good amount in this one and added seven points.
Takeaway #2: Historic dominance over Cincinnati
Houston basketball was 1-24 against Cincinnati before Sampson took over in 2014. The Cougars have now won 18 games against the Bearcats, including the last 14 games in a row. Wes Miller drops to 0-11 against Sampson and Houston in his career. Both teams were in the American Athletic Conference before moving to the Big 12 two years ago, and the dominance continues for the Cougars.
A big reason for this dominance was Bearcats sophomore center Moustapha Thiam got injured and only played 12 minutes. He was second leading scorer and rebounder on the team. The game was close in the beginning
Houston won the first game of the series this season, 67-60 at Cincinnati, and even won the Big 12 regular season title outright against the Bearcats last season.
Up next for Houston basketball: vs. UCF, Feb. 4 at 6 p.m.