MORGANTOWN, WV – The facts show that #6 Houston had a 20-point halftime lead against a team that appeared to have given up. Houston shot 50% in the first half, 46% from three, and didn’t miss a free throw, while the Mountaineers had just as many turnovers (8) as they had field goals. WVU became the 8th UH opponent in 20 games to score fewer than 20 (no other D1 team has more than five such halves).
The facts also show that UH ended up winning the game by 14, on the road, in a tough environment, the second game of a difficult two-game road trip, coming off one of the craziest wins in school history, and limited an opponent to under 50 points.
The facts are such that Houston is now 9-0 in the Big 12, 5-0 on the road, on a 13-game winning streak, #1 in KenPom, #2 in the NCAA NET, and have now added three Q1 wins in the span of five days.
Somehow, though, the narrative is about how much UH struggled.
J’Wan Roberts was at the top of the scouting report, and the WVU game plan would force someone else to beat them. They weren’t letting J’Wan go 10/13 for 22 points again like they did at Fertitta Center two weeks ago. Roberts went 2/6.
Milos Uzan struggled both shooting (3/8) and distributing (his two assists are the fewest in a game this season where he played 29+ minutes and tied for second-fewest of the season).
Emanuel Sharp was clearly bothered by the foot injury he’s been dealing with for months, to the point where Kelvin Sampson said after the game that he probably should not have played him.
Mylik Wilson struggled, including a brutal turnover underneath the WVU basket for an easy score that cut the lead to six.
The Cougars turned it over 14 times, a season high.
But the mantra of this program is to find a way to affect winning. And in a ‘struggle’ game like this, that’s what the Cougars did:
J’Wan had four offensive rebounds (six total), a block and a steal, and three assists, one of which came on the first possession, evading traffic and throwing it from one side of the arc to the other, finding L.J. Cryer in the corner for a three. Cryer was 6/12 from the floor and the leading scorer in the game.
JoJo Tugler continued his strong play—he went 5/9 with seven rebounds and continues to play within himself on the offensive end. Ja’Vier Francis had another strong showing, shooting 3/3, with five rebounds and a steal. That one-two punch is a massive problem for other Big 12 teams.
WVU’s elite scorer Javon Small was locked down once again – UH held him to his fewest FG attempts of the season (7) and his fewest since he played at Fertitta Center last year as an Oklahoma State Cowboy, a span of 30 games. Roberts was often given the task of defending him – it was Small vs. Too Small.
In fact, none of WVU’s players scored in double figures: Amani Hansberry was 6/8 at Fertitta Center for 16 points – he went 3/8 with four turnovers Wednesday. Small was 4/8 in the first half at Fertitta and has gone 3/10 in the three halves since.
UH missed 12 shots in the second half but rebounded six and had a 16-3 advantage in second-chance points. Houston went 6/6 from the FT line, while their opponent was 5/11 (4/9 in the second half). They also missed the front of a one-and-one three times. Ouch.
Big 12 road teams have gone 5-11 in the last week, 3-11 if you don’t count UH. It’s incredibly difficult to win on the road in this league, and UH keeps doing it repeatedly. They’ve won nine straight road games going back to last season.
Teams with 5+ road wins since UH came into the league:
| School | Road Record | Road Winning % |
|---|---|---|
| Houston | 11-3 | 78.6 |
| Texas Tech | 8-5 | 61.5 |
| Iowa State | 7-7 | 50.0 |
| Baylor | 6-8 | 42.9 |
| Kansas | 5-8 | 38.5 |
| TCU | 5-9 | 35.7 |
| UCF | 5-9 | 35.7 |
One other team is above .500 on the road and well behind the Cougars. Despite a lack of focus early in the second half, UH dominated WVU in the first half and destroyed them in the last seven minutes, 14-5. And, oh yeah, they won the game and continue to lead the conference.
College basketball teams have several soul-searching games each year. This was one for Kelvin Sampson’s bunch. Most of those turn into losses. Head-scratching, can’t fathom it losses.
This one, some 1300 miles from home, resulted in a 14-point win.
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