No. 3 Houston Basketball’s Road Trip In Utah: 4 Takeaways

Houston basketball beat BYU 77-66 on Saturday night in Provo at the Marriott Center and followed that up with a 66-52 win over the Utah Utes on Tuesday night in the Huntsman Center to improve to 22-2 overall and 10-1 in the Big 12. 

Houston basketball is in the middle of its Big 12 gauntlet and spent the past five days up in the state of Utah, taking on BYU and Utah. The Cougars went 2-0 on this road trip and finally returned home to Houston on Wednesday morning.

Houston moved up five spots in the AP poll up from No. 8 to No. 3 due to the 11-point win at what was No. 16 BYU. It was also due to UConn, Illinois, Gonzaga, and Duke losing this past week.

Takeaway #1: Improving defense

Houston basketball’s offense has a higher ceiling than last year, but the Cougars’ defense has continued to get better throughout the season. They had one of their best performances against then No. 16 BYU on the road in an intimidating environment. 

Houston limited BYU’s second-leading scorer, Richie Saunders, to just seven points on 1/8 shooting. There is no way anyone can stop star freshman forward AJ Dybantsa, so Houston made sure to lock down his supporting cast. Robert Wright III had a brief stretch of scoring, but besides that, Houston did a great job of closing in on scorers and playing its physical brand. That clearly overwhelmed BYU center Keba Keita, who was 1/6 from the field. Junior forward Jospeh Tugler played 24 minutes in this. 

Senior guard Emanuel Sharp put up 14 points, but was strong defensively as well. BYU shot 40% overall from the field. Houston did well in terms of defensive rebounding, too, winning the battle 27-22. 

Takeaway #2: Team chemistry

Houston basketball seems to be coming together at the right time. It was not easy to win by double digits against a top-18 team on the road. Besides freshman point guard Kingston Flemings leading the charge for the 14th time this season with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, there were plenty of other contributors. 

Freshman big man Chris Cenac Jr. had one of his best Big 12 road games with 16 points on 7/12 shooting. He got to his spots and made his jumpers. Tugler chipped in on offense to start the second half; however, graduate center Kalifa Sakho has really taken the next step. He had a slow start because he wasn’t healthy and is finally rounding into form now. He scored seven points and four rebounds, Sakho’s best performance of the season so far. 

Freshman guard Isiah Harwell also hit a big three, while senior point guard Milos Uzan added eight points and two 3-pointers. Houston was also 12/15 from the free-throw line. 

Takeaway #3: Emanuel Sharp time

Houston basketball did not look particularly great against the worst team in the Big 12 in Utah, but still comfortably got the job done by 14 points. The Cougars were up by close to 20 in the second half. The main reason was redshirt senior guard Emanuel Sharp. It was one of the most special nights of his career as Sharp made eight 3-pointers and became Houston’s all-time leading 3-point shooter with a school record 277 total treys. 

While six other Houston basketball guards have made eight triples in a game, Sharp became the first to do so in a Big 12 game. He was the majority of the offense for Houston on a night it struggled making shots at times. Sharp put up a game-high 27 points on 9/17 shooting and was 8/13 from three. Everyone else was ice cold from beyond the arc. All Utah and Houston shooters not named Sharp shot a combined 3/30 total from three. 

Takeaway #4: Road experience

Certain aspects of the game will not go right when a team is on the road, especially in the Big 12. Houston basketball’s defense was not at its best in the first half, but it came through on a poor shooting night. Utah ultimately shot better than Houston from the field and even did a commendable job battling Houston on the boards. Rebounding was almost identical. However, there are some parts of Houston’s culture that show up no matter what. Against Utah, it was the turnovers. The Cougars forced 13 and generated 20 points off them. 

Up next for Houston basketball: vs. Kansas State, Feb. 14 at 3 p.m.