Against Miami, UH went 18/18 on free throws not attempted by Jamal Shead. He was 2/4, including missing a one-and-one. Combine that with the 18/18 on FTs in the second half of Auburn. Counting Shead’s misses, that’s 94.7% of the last three halves.
Houston was 51/59 on free throws in the tournament (86.4%), which is a crazy number considering how poorly they shot them all season. Consider these numbers over the last 60 days (3/12 is heading into NCAA Tournament). These are national rankings based on 352 schools:
| Date | FT Attempts PG | FT% | FT Made PG |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/1 | 287 | 236 | 287 |
| 3/1 | 262 | 178 | 253 |
| 3/12 | 231 | 165 | 221 |
| 3/24 | 218 | 113 | 195 |
| NCAA Only | 17 | 6 | 6 |
Sixth in free throws made per game and free throw percentage among Tournament teams? Didn’t have that on my bingo card.
GoCoogs is a pro-J’Wan Roberts website, but the truth is the truth, and J’Wan had his worst game as a starter. In fact, he was a total non-factor. He had a usage rate of 3.4% (the percent of plays he was used when on the floor) and had a +/- of -24, the lowest for a player in a game this season. The +/- stat keeps track of the net changes in the score when a player is on the floor. His net points were -11.1 (a formula for points produced minus points allowed). Not good, Jim.
Tramon Mark hit his first three shots, all in the game’s first five minutes. He then went 1/10 from the floor. His +/- was -21, which was UH’s second-lowest of the year.
Jarace Walker set a career record with five assists against Miami. That comes six days after setting a career and school record with six blocks against Auburn. He had four blocks against the Hurricanes.
Houston shot 29% on threes in the tournament (20/69), 43rd best among 68 teams. The three-point numbers for the year took a drop as UH got deeper into the season. Like free throws above, these are national rankings:
| Date | 3PT Attempts PG | 3PT% | 3PT Made PG |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/1 | 182 | 95 | 149 |
| 3/1 | 141 | 135 | 128 |
| 3/12 | 136 | 163 | 127 |
| 3/24 | 132 | 180 | 137 |
| NCAA Only | 23 | 43 | 32 |
Houston was 60th among tournament teams in turnovers forced per game and 58th in steals per game. In the regular season, UH was 30th in steals per game through the end of the regular season.
The Cougars were 31st among NCAA teams in scoring defense despite being #2 nationally for the season.
Miami’s 11 three-pointers were the second-most made this season. Their overall FG% was the second-best against Houston all year (57.1%). Wichita St shot better at Fertitta (64.9%) but took fewer shots than Miami (60 FGA).