The Houston Cougars put an absolute smackdown on the Penn Quakers Saturday night in the Fertitta Center. Houston led 18-0 before cruising to an 81-42 win. I asked for a first-round knock-out in my scouting report, and the Coogs certainly delivered. Like a Mike Tyson in his prime knock-out!
The game was never in question. Penn came in averaging 80ppg, and UH held them to almost half that! It was the lowest point total for the Quakers since January 31, 2015.
the daily #149 | 12/31/2023 | Archives
Have a look at how the game met my expectations and what surprised me:
The only surprise was that I thought the score would be closer. The Coogs had time off for Christmas. J’Wan Roberts missed the game. Most of the student section was home for the holidays. And Big 12 action starts next Saturday with a “Red Out” and (FREAKING RED PANDA as the halftime entertainment…LET’S GOOOOO!!!).
This could have been a trap game for many teams, but not for the Coogs. UH did not underestimate Penn, and they came out determined to shut Penn down. That is a testament to Coach Sampson and his staff for having the players prepared and to the players for coming in with a “NO MERCY” mindset.
I had Penn’s Clark Slajchert as my “head of the snake,” and I still believe he is. But he only had one shot attempt in his six minutes of play before going down with a lower leg injury (I hope he bounces back quickly, as he’s a great player). I have so much respect for him and the way he plays. He will be a contender for Ivy League “Player of the Year” if he can fully recover.
This team is so fun to watch defensively, and the proof is the job that the Cougar bigs did on center Nick Spinoso. Houston’s “monster” trap gave him fits all night. He could not find open shooters because the monster pressure and the long wing spans affected his passing visibility, which led to several steals. Spinoso finished with seven turnovers. On the passes he could make, the Coogs recovered well on their shooters, as they were only 7/26 from beyond the arc on the evening! Houston had 25 points off of Penn’s 22 turnovers.
The Coogs did indeed dominate the boards on both ends. UH out-rebounded Penn 42-28! The dominance on the offensive glass – the Cougars rebounded more of their misses (19) than Penn had defensive boards (18) – led to 20 second-chance points. UH also did a fantastic job of locating their shooters in transition. They wanted to walk the ball up the floor as often as possible but had few chances to run, and UH held them to ZERO fast break points.
The Coogs are now 13-0 and heading into Big 12 play. The West Virginia Mountaineers visit Fertitta Center on Saturday. It’s best to ignore WVU’s non-conference record, as their best players have recently become eligible. They are starting to gel and took a pretty good Ohio State team to OT in Cleveland last night. RaeQuan Battle is as good a player as the Coogs will see this year. They are VERY talented.
I can’t wait to share my WVU scouting breakdown with you later this week as Big 12 action officially begins!
