The game to look forward to on Sunday’s slate was not in the Big Ten, or ACC, or Pac-12 (especially the Pac-12). No, it was a showdown in the American Athletic Conference, one that featured a team that’s been one of the better stories this season in college basketball. They won the game, which only adds to the story.
Houston’s 65-58 win over Cincinnati just keeps the Cougars’ great story going.
It’s been mentioned before, but much was not expected of this team with the departure of Rob Gray Jr. and Devin Davis among others. They had a big hand in making this team relevant and subsequently an NCAA Tournament team. How would they make up for the production they lost?
Quite simply, with better defense led by a perimeter unit that is even better. And the Cougars, at 23-1, are even better than last year, if you can believe that. They have the nation’s longest home winning streak at 32 straight games after Sunday as well.
The nerve center of what this team does is their trio of Corey Davis Jr., Galen Robinson Jr. and Armoni Brooks. They run the offense well playing off each other, and defensively they set the tone as well. Houston may lead the American Athletic Conference in blocked shots, but it’s not because their guards let offensive players get in the lane all the time. Opponents shoot 36.4 percent from the field against them on the season, more than making up for being a middling team in that respect at the other end. Included is that opponents make just 27 percent of three-point attempts, and to boot, they have the best rebounding margin in the conference.
This defense showed up again on Sunday as Cincinnati shot just 33.3 percent from the field against them. Jarron Cumberland, who has had a terrific season being their clear go-to scorer, had 27 points, but he was 9-25 from the field. No Bearcat made at least half the shots he put up on the day, in fact, though Cane Broome came close at 4-9. Cincinnati actually shot better from long range (8-21, 38.1 percent) than overall. And for the final 6:11 of the game, Cincinnati didn’t score, missing their last 11 shots as the Cougars scored the game’s final eight points.
This win didn’t come easily, though, because Cincinnati had 19 offensive rebounds and the Cougars gave the ball away 13 times against another good defensive team, while the Bearcats committed just four turnovers of their own.
If anyone has forgotten, Kelvin Sampson can coach. He’s rebuilt this program up steadily from when he first took the job and established a culture. That has taken over this year when a couple of important players moved on, and now the Cougars are the best they have been in a long time. They won the game of the day on Sunday to go one game up on the Bearcats and whet our appetites for round two to close the regular season on March 10.
Side Dishes
The two Big Ten games came down to the final buzzer, with a split in terms of home/road winners. Ohio State started each half strong, but Indiana managed to stay right there and had a shot to tie at the end, but the Buckeyes held on for a 55-52 win in Bloomington that keeps the Hoosiers sliding. Indiana has lost nine of ten with nearly a week off before they go to Minnesota. Later, Northwestern led Iowa by a dozen with under three minutes to go, but the Hawkeyes stormed back to finish the game on an 18-5 run that was capped by a three-pointer by Jordan Bohannon with 0.6 seconds left to steal an 80-79 win in Iowa City.
Loyola-Chicago is now up two games in the Missouri Valley after a 56-51 win at Valparaiso combined with Missouri State edging Illinois State 66-65 on a buzzer-beater in Springfield. Missouri State has pulled into a three-way tie for second with the Redbirds and Drake.
George Mason used a big second half to knock off surging La Salle 84-76 and keep pace in the Atlantic 10.
The MAAC is always very competitive, and this year is no different. After Canisius used a 13-0 second-half run to beat St. Peter’s 64-60 in Jersey City for their eighth road win of the year and surging Siena went to Rider and beat the slumping Broncs 59-57, they are tied at 8-4 right behind Monmouth at 9-4. That’s not all, though, as Quinnipiac is 7-4 and Rider is still just a game back in the loss column at 7-5 but has lost four in a row.
One of three teams will get an added boost next season, and that will become known on Monday as Anthony Edwards will announce his decision. The 6’5″ shooting guard from Atlanta is down to Florida State, Georgia and Kentucky, and is widely viewed as one of the two best uncommitted prospects remaining in the class of 2019 (along with New York native Cole Anthony, the son of former NBA point guard Greg Anthony).
Tonight’s Menu
It’s a light slate as usual this time of year, but a couple of games are big ones.
- The night gets going with North Carolina hosting Virginia, who is a game back of them in the standings (7 p.m.)
- Among the MEAC’s busy slate is Florida A&M trying to close in on the team they host, conference leader Norfolk State (7 p.m.)
- A Patriot League showdown is also on tap as Bucknell hosts Lehigh, with the Bison up a game in the standings (7 p.m.)
- The Big 12 takes over later on as TCU hosts Kansas and Baylor hosts Oklahoma (9 p.m.)
- The last game of the night is out west as Sacramento State hosts Portland State (10:35 p.m.)
