The Cougars can win this game with patience, rebounding, and efficiency on offense – the exact things Houston is good at.

**Texas Personnel (* Indicates probable starters)**

*#3 Max Abmas 6’0″ Gr. – 18ppg, 3rpg, 4apg (Oral Roberts)

Small but elite scoring point guard;
Special three-level scorer;
Can make the three from DEEP; 59% of his shot attempts are from three; Ranked #39 in the nation in 3pt attempts with 155; Ranked #40 in the nation in three-point % at 40.65%; Ranked #18 in three-point shots made per game with 3.15; MUST STICK TO HIM LIKE GLUE!;
Can make the dribble pull-up jumper; 27% of his shot attempts are pull-up jumpers;
Undersized, but a solid finisher at the rim;

*#4 Tyrese Hunter 6’0″ Jr. – 12ppg, 3rpg, 4apg (Iowa State)

*#1 Dylan Disu 6’9″ Gr. – 16ppg, 4rpg, 1bpg (Vanderbilt)

Tall Stretch-Forward;
Outstanding mid-range shooter; Makes tough shots!; 47% of his shot attempts are mid-range jumpers;
Great three-point shooter; Shoots 57%! 18/32 on the season from beyond the arc;
Good passing big man;
Very patient on offense;

*#23 Dillon Mitchell 6’8″ So. – 11ppg, 9rpg, 1bpg

LEFTY
Long/Extremely athletic forward;
Solid shot blocker;
Big-time bounce;
Capable mid-range shooter;
Not a good outside shooter; 0-7 on three-point attempts this season
Outstanding rebounder on both ends; Ranked #31 nationally in defensive rebounds per game with 6.7;

*#9 Ithiel Horton 6’5″ Gr. – 7ppg, 3rpg (Delaware/Pittsburgh/UCF)

Well traveled. On his 4th college team;
Solid mid-range and three-point shooter; 85% of his shot attempts are from mid-range or from beyond the arc;

#2 Chendall Weaver 6’3″ So. – 5ppg, 3rpg (UT-Arlington)

Quick athletic guard (6th Man); Plays starter minutes;
Playing really well in conference games;
Solid at attacking the rim; Really strong finisher; 55% of his shot attempts are at the rim;
Capable three-point shooter, but prefers to drive;

#30 Brock Cunningham 6’6″ Gr. 4ppg, 4rpg.

#5 Kadin Shredrick 6’11” Gr. – 9ppg, 3rpg (Virginia)

Long/athletic back-up forward;
Scores mostly in the post; Capable, but not a huge shooting threat;
Played UH while at UVA twice: was 9/12 and six boards in 38 minutes in two games; Led the Cavs in scoring last year vs. UH with 16 points (7/8 FG);

#21 Ze’Rik Onyema 6’8″ Jr. – 4ppg, 3rpg (UTEP)

#0 Chris Johnson 6’5″ Fr. – 1ppg

Keys to Victory

Attack the paint on offense and cut with a vengeance. The Horns are not good in help-side defense. This should allow the UH guards to attack the paint off the dribble or by feeding the post. Houston is a much more dangerous team when they attack the paint. They should have a good chance to do so vs the UT;
Slow down Abmas and Disu. These are their go-to guys. Abmas LOVES the three, and Disu prefers the mid-range jumper (46% of shots) but can score from anywhere. It will be a challenge, but you need to slow them down and force their other guys to beat you;
Own the boards. Except Mitchell, Texas struggles to rebound. This is a GREAT opportunity for the Coogs to get extra shot attempts and perhaps some dagger threes;
Defend the three-point line. Texas is at its best when making the three, and they shoot a ton of them at a high percentage. Running them off the line and forcing them to shoot tough two-point jumpers will be crucial;
Defend without fouling. Random stat alert! Texas is 10-0 this season when their opponent has 16 or more fouls. They are 4-6 when their opponent has 16 or less fouls. The Coogs must defend at their usual high level without reaching and committing bad fouls!