Everyone else does game previews, so what the hell: GoCoogs will try, too. But ours will be more our style.
Tulane makes their last conference-game trip to Fertitta Center tonight to face the #1 Cougars. In the first matchup of the season at Fogelman Arena, the Wave led early before the Cougars systematically dismantled them, shooting 55% for the game while making 12 three-pointers. Houston won 80-60.
The Cougars will clinch a share of the conference title with a win over Tulane. However, any loss by Memphis or a Houston win over ECU, Wichita State, or Memphis would give the Coogs the championship outright.
Quoting Grandpa Hunter
“Every time I look around, we’re changing history.”
– Ron Hunter to the New Orleans Times-Picayune
Hunter is factually correct. Wednesday’s game is the first time in history that a University of Houston team will play an opponent twice in the same season while ranked #1 in the country. UH was #1 when the Coogs went to Tulane in mid-January and returned to the top spot this past Monday.
Before this season, UH had only played two regular-season conference games as #1 in its history: at Arkansas at Baylor in 1983. This will be game #8 of 2022-23 as the top-ranked team.
Tulane: changing history.
Road Warriors
Tulane left the Garden District in New Orleans yesterday, in the heart of the parade routes on Mardi Gras day, to fly to Houston. They might have been the only people on the airport departure list in the city. But give ’em a little credit: the Greenies are one of the country’s best road teams. Of course, Houston is the only undefeated road team this year but the Coogs aren’t the only perfect road team. 10 others have a “perfect” record.
| Best Road Record | Team |
|---|---|
| 8-0 | Houston |
| 7-1 | SDSU |
| 6-1 | Saint Mary's |
| 11-2 | College of Charleston |
| 9-2 | UNT |
| 6-2 | Northwestern |
| 5-2 | Tulane |
| Worst Road Record | Team |
| 0-8 | Notre Dame |
| 0-9 | Rhode Island |
| 0-9 | Louisville |
| 0-10 | Georgia State |
| 0-10 | Cal |
| 0-11 | Pepperdine |
| 0-11 | Tulsa |
| 0-13 | CSUN |
| 0-14 | Presbyterian |
| 0-14 | IUPUI |
Kelvin Quotes
“My focus has always been on what do we have to do to get better. I’m sure that sucks as a response, but that is just the way I am. Looking back at the tape, I was just disappointed in so many things that we did on Sunday. We have to play better, and we can play better.”
– Kelvin Sampson
Sampson is flustered with how his team closes out games. On Sunday, the athletic Memphis Tigers kept up a frantic pace with their offense and trapping defense, but UH’s trend of struggling to finish a game strong goes back to early in the season. The last two games were particularly irritating for Sampson. SMU finished strong as the Coogs looked content, and Memphis cut a 13-point lead to five with 2:24 left.
The unheralded stat
The Athletic feature on Marcus Sasser on Tuesday waded into the assist/turnover ratio stat that the program religiously tracks. In mid-December, UH was 62nd in the country in the metric at 1:36. Two months later, the Coogs have improved to 11th. A lot of credit goes to Jamal Shead, who went through a mini-slump but has come on strong in the last few weeks.
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