In his scout of Middle Tennessee State, Jayme Hollingsworth wrote, “Coogs win big in this one, unless something just crazy happens.”
Welp, something crazy happened. Houston came out and played soft. They were out-physicaled and out-toughed. How many times has that happened in Fertitta Center history?
After the game, Kelvin Sampson said MTSU was “as good a team as has played against us (at Fertitta Center), the way they shot it, the way they spaced the floor.”
After a big nasally breath, he acknowledged what everyone in the arena saw.
“It hurts my heart to say this, but I just thought they played harder than we did. Thought they outhustled us, they outscraped us, they were the aggressor.” He’s right.
By mid-afternoon Tuesday, those issues will be addressed in (what I imagine will be) a grueling film session and an equally laborious practice. I’d also imagine that Kelvin won’t continue to see MTSU as “as good a team that has played against us.” He’ll focus his ire on Monday’s porous Cougar defense, their inability to crowd passing lanes, and how Middle outworked them on the boards. UH had more offensive rebounds, but the Blue Raiders had a higher offensive-rebound percentage, which is Kelvin’s focus.
Everyone knew this season would be a work in progress, but it hasn’t been just the freshmen who have struggled: Milos Uzan has not found his footing, and JoJo Tugler has struggled staying on the floor. In the last three seasons, UH has had an alpha senior that the team was built around: Marcus Sasser, Jamal Shead, and J’Wan Roberts. That was expected to be Emanuel Sharp this season, but he has not asserted himself to this point. I think he will, but with Big 12 play starting Saturday, the time is now.
In the postgame, Sharp said he and the other seniors need to come out with a better mindset and do a better job of leading. “If our closet isn’t clean, we’re not gonna get to where we need to be,” he said. “I, especially, got to be better.” He’s right.
Yet with all the gnashing of teeth, this team is a three-point loss away from being undefeated (and that loss was against a top-20 team). They have a relatively tame start to the conference schedule: three bottom-half teams, a road game against a 7-deep team in Baylor, and a revenge game at home with Tech. There’s still time to figure some things out and start playing more consistent basketball.
AV Club
