The current Houston offense is as efficient as it has ever been during the Kelvin Sampson era. Sampson points to three areas that he focuses on: taking good shots, rebounding, and taking care of the ball.
Over the last few seasons, UH has protected the ball at an elite level, and this season, the Coogs are the No. 1 team in the country when it comes to fewest turnovers committed. Houston has 15 fewer turnovers than the No. 2 team (Liberty), and UH is the only program nationally under 200 turnovers for the season.
The Cougars are currently on a historic streak. They had five turnovers at Utah, continuing their streak of five or fewer TOs:
4 – Cincinnati
5 – UCF 5
4 – at BYU
5 – at Utah
That’s 160 minutes with 18 total turnovers. Kingston Flemings and Milos Uzan account for 11 of those, which is to be expected. But that also means that eight other guys have combined to play 540 minutes and have committed just 7 turnovers between them (Three for JoJo Tugler, two for Kalifa Sakho, and one each for Emanuel Sharp and Isiah Harwell).
Prior to this stretch, the fewest turnovers a UH team had in four consecutive games in the Kelvin Sampson era was 25. On Sampson’s radio show Thursday night, host Jeremy Branham brought up GoCoogs.com’s research on this stretch of turnovers. Sampson credits Flemings and Uzan.
“I think one of the things that helps us is we’re playing two point guards, and they’re both really good decision makers,” Sampson said. “Basketball ultimately comes down to hitting singles. Teams that turn the ball over a lot are probably trying to swing for the fences, and they have a lot of strikeouts.”
“I’ve always kept it simple. I’ve always had an almost allergic reaction to dumb plays. Part of being a coach is teaching kids how to play the right way.”
Emanuel Sharp is the personification of that comment. Sharp has played nearly 119 minutes in this stretch (3 full games), shot it 48 times, and dished 11 assists but only had one turnover. That’s impressive, but it shows the discernment and decision-making that improve with years in this program. Sampson illustrated that point by describing a conversation he had with Jamal Shead early in the PG’s career.
“Jamal thought turnovers were just part of the game,” Kelvin explained. “I said, ‘What do you mean, Jamal?’ He says, ‘The way I play, sometimes I turn it over.’ I said, ‘Well then, stop playing that way. This isn’t real complicated, son.’”
Houston was 3rd nationally in turnovers last season and seventh in 2023-24, leading the conference both seasons. This season, UH has 58 fewer turnovers than Kansas, which is second in the Big 12.
| Year | TO Per Game | National Rank | Big 12 Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 8.0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2024-25 | 9.0 | 3 | 1 |
| 2023-24 | 8.9 | 7 | 1 |
If the season ended today, UH’s turnovers per game (7.96) would be the best nationally in the last 12 years. That’s No. 1 compared to about 3500 other D1 teams. And to do it with a freshman running point most of the time? How?
Sampson has often talked about “No Turnover Thursdays” during the summer, when he teaches his team how to read defenses and make good decisions. On his radio show, he explained how that process works.
“I give ’em three turnovers, and on their 4th one, I run the crap out of ’em,” Kelvin said. “Then two weeks later, I give ’em two turnovers. Then they learn, ‘If I turn it over, coach is gonna kill me.’
“So come gametime, we never turn it over.”
