PROVO, UT – About 40 minutes after a grueling game, having fulfilled multiple media and alumni commitments, but still, before he went on with BYU radio, Coug coach Mark Pope gathered himself on the court at the Marriott Center. As he took a big breath, he saw former BYU coach – and Phi Slama Jama founding member – Dave Rose hanging out under the basket leading to the tunnel. Pope walked up to him and embraced him the way you might a brother you see once a year. It was genuine emotion, and, for a moment, Pope had a smile on his face. Perhaps it was his only one of the night.
the daily #173 | 1/24/2024 | Archives
Rose had given Pope a job on his BYU staff and helped him get the Utah Valley head job in Orem, just 4 miles from the BYU campus. When Rose retired after a cancer scare, he enthusiastically supported Pope for the job. Now the mentor lingered to offer a few words of support, face-to-face. After the embrace, Pope recounted what happened, and Rose listened and nodded, knowing the current coach needed the former one as a sounding board.
Their somber conversation went on for 3-4 minutes, not nearly as long as Rose spent with Kelvin Sampson after the game. Like Pope, Sampson had a huge smile when he realized Dave Rose was nearby. But Kelvin’s smile was longer-lasting. “You look good,” Kelvin said. “And you got a good-looking wife!”
Sampson and his staff loitered in the arena after talking with the media, soaking up the energy from their gritty 75-68 win. Players, lost in the commotion of the program’s first Big 12 road win, were stopping to breathe and look around. Jamal Shead walked out of the locker room and saw L.J. Cryer and a big smile came across his face. “Welcome back,” he said to his roommate, the shooting guard who pulled out of a small slump to stem so many BYU mini-rallies. Cryer finished with 23 points on 7/14 shooting and had three big offensive rebounds (four total).
For his part, Shead wrote another chapter in the Kelvin Sampson Development Program guidebook. Calming his team repeatedly as the crowd roared after another BYU three, Shead never allowed the pace to quicken faster than his teammates could handle. Shead was methodical and in control the entire way.
Giving up 10 inches in height, Shead turned over BYU’s 6’11” center Aly Khalifa a minute into the game. Less than 10 seconds later, he fed J’Wan Roberts for a lay-in, and the Coogs were off and running. Sampson and Shead had no intention of trying to get in a shooting contest with the home team; instead, they committed to playing their brand of basketball.
In his press conference, Pope called this UH team “the definition of toughness in college basketball” and praised UH players and the system of culture Sampson has built. But, with 2:15 left, it was BYU’s Noah Waterman who buried a three to pull even at 68. The hometown Cougars had climbed fully out of a 13-point hole. Houston looked rattled, similar to the game at Iowa State. And the game at TCU.
But as it turns out, BYU never scored again.
After Waterman’s swish, the Cougs called a timeout to keep their fans at a fevered pitch. Shead missed a three, and Emanuel Sharp, challenged in pregame shoot-around to be more forceful on the glass, came down with it and was fouled. Shockingly, Sharp missed the front of a 1-and-1, but he grabbed the offensive board again (he had nine boards in the game). Francis was called for a turnover, which replay shows was a bad call, and BYU pushed it the other way.
On a BYU miss, Jamal Shead came down with the rebound, and Sampson called time. Roberts hit the first of a one-and-one, and BYU went down and had a perfectly open three. Brick. Shead grabbed the long rebound. He was tied up on the ground, but it was UH ball.
On the inbound, Emanuel Sharp was clearly fouled, despite BYU fans believing otherwise. Sharp hit both free throws, and another miss by BYU and another foul gave Shead two free throws himself. He made both. It was the same situation for Cryer, and he made two more. Houston had sealed it at the line, going without a field goal in the last 4:13.
Sampson has often said he prefers coaching on the road, without the distractions of home life and a home crowd. Everything is more difficult; you get fewer calls, but your team’s focus is more complete. Perhaps his Cougars were not fully locked in for Iowa State, falling behind early and fighting to claw back the rest of the night. They were better at TCU but made critical mistakes late to cost them the game.
At BYU, they were patient. They took the punches and retaliated with their own. And four times, the Coogs hit them with the dagger – a made three-pointer off an offensive rebound. That’s one of Kelvin’s favorites – offensive efficiency, toughness, and heartbreaking for the opponent all at once.
Walking out of the Marriott Center, Kelvin had it all: his team and their toughness were tested, they threw daggers all night, won a top-10 KenPom game on the road, responded to adversity late, and made game-winning free throws at the end.
