Texas travels to UH for a regular season meeting for just the third time since the breakup of the Southwest Conference. The Horns helped open the ‘refurbished’ Hofheinz in Clyde Drexler’s first game in November 1998, just over 25 years ago. And UT won a December 2000 game in Ray McCallum’s first season.

the daily #197 | 2/17/2024 | Archives

Texas Personnel

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

vs. UH- 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers;
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 #38 in the nation in 3pt attempts with 185. Ranked #47 in the nation in three-point % at 38.92%. Ranked #24 in three-point shots made per game with 3.00. 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;
Elite free-throw shooter. Ranked #11 nationally at 90.79%:

*#4 Tyrese Hunter 6’0″ Jr. – 11ppg, 3rpg, 5apg (Iowa State)

Undersized, but very good combo guard;
Good three-level scorer;
Solid at attacking the rim. 40% of his shot attempts are at the rim;
Capable mid-range and three-point shooter;
Pesky defender:

*#1 Dylan Disu 6’9″ Gr. – 17ppg, 5rpg, 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 #36 nationally in defensive rebounds per game with 6.67:

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

Quick athletic guard;
Has been starting since the last match-up with UH;
Playing really well in conference games;
Solid at attacking the rim. Really strong finisher; 55% of his shot attempts are at the rim;
Not a GREAT three-point shooter. Give him a step and tempt him to shoot the three:

#9 Ithiel Horton 6’5″ Gr. – 6ppg, 2rpg (Delaware/Pittsburgh/UCF)

Well traveled. On his 4th college team;
Moved to the bench after the match-up with the Coogs;
Solid mid-range and three-point shooter. 85% of his shot attempts are from mid-range or from beyond the arc:

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

“Glue Guy”
Solid three-point shooter (Best when in the corner);
Good mid-range shooter:

#5 Kadin Shredrick 6’11” Gr. – 8ppg, 3rpg (Virginia)

Long/athletic back-up forward;
Scores mostly in the post;
Capable of shooting from the short corner, 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)

Big body post player;
Not overly skilled on offense,

#0 Chris Johnson 6’5″ Fr. – 1ppg

Athletic guard;
Highly recruited.

Keys to Victory

Own the glass (again). The Coogs dominated the boards on both ends in Austin. This was THE key to victory in that game and will be again on Saturday.
Slow down Abmas and Disu. Shut down everyone else. The Longhorns run their offense through those two guys. If you can keep them under their averages and not let any of their role players have a big game, you should have a great home win.
Get the ball in the paint on offense. Texas really struggled to keep the Coogs out of the paint in Austin. This was a huge advantage for UH, as they could score around the basket, draw in the defense, and kick to open shooters.
Control their runs. Basketball is a game of runs. Texas will not go away easily. They were down big in Austin in the first half and clawed back to take a 6-point lead in the second half. Who will hit the “sit down and shut up” shots for the Coogs in this one? Last game, it was Mylik Wilson!
Toughest team wins. The Horns have been struggling in conference play. But they are likely tired of hearing they are UH’s little brother in basketball. I expect them to bring their “A-Game” to Houston and do whatever it takes to pull the upset. In Fertitta Center, the Coogs are always the first on the floor for a loose ball, ready to take a charge, fly around on defense, and use that “Fertitta Magic” to their advantage!