Winning stat: UH pulled down 13 offensive boards and scored 17 points on second chances (1.3 points per offensive board). USF had 9 offensive rebounds but scored just two points off of them (.22 points per).
Recap: UH led the game from start to finish at the Sun Dome Yuengling Center but had to scrape out a 62-58 win. The Cougars led by 11 twice but the Bulls were usually within ten points.
USF never allowed the Cougars to get in an offensive rhythm and nearly pushed UH into a Cincinnati-like collapse. With 9:52 left in the second, Houston had an 11-point lead but over the next 5+ minutes, USF went on a 12-4 run.
UH was one for eight shooting in that stretch and it turns out that USF was just as we had feared: the ultimate trap game.
But out of a Sampson timeout, Quentin Grimes took over. In the last 3:25 of the game, he went 6/6 from the line and hit a three-pointer, scoring nine of his game-high 22.
It was also Quentin’s third-straight game with 5 assists.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#dd0000″ class=”” size=”20″] “You have to have unbelievable focus and discipline when you play Houston for 40 minutes.” – USF coach Brian Gregory[/perfectpullquote]
Only two Cougars shot free throws in the game: Marcus Sasser and Quentin Grimes. Grimes went 7/8 and Sasser was 4/4. UH was 10/10 in the second half from the line but had just 12 attempts in the game.
As much as UH fans like to harp on free throws: only one team in conference play has more FT attempts than UH’s 244. It’s Temple – at 246.
Before this season, UH was just 29-26 in red uniforms (traditional road uni) under Kelvin Sampson. This year: 6-1 after Wednesday night.
Grimes Times: Quentin has flipped his season in the last six AAC games. In the first six, Grimes shot just 14/44 (.318) and scored 43 points (7.16 ppg). But in the last six games, he’s started to break out: he’s 26/51 (.510) from the floor and has scored 76 points (12.67 ppg).
Grimes had 12 assists in the first 6 conference games but has 22 in the last six.
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