No. 3 Houston will put its 19-game home winning streak on the line when it squares off with No. 10 Iowa State on Monday in a clash between the two teams tied for the top spot in the Big 12 standings.
Home court could be a difference maker for the Cougars (22-3, 9-3 in Big 12), who were listed as a No. 1 seed (and third overall) by the NCAA on Saturday when it released its preliminary rankings of the top 16 teams in advance of the NCAA Tournament. Iowa State (20-5, 9-3) was also listed by the selection committee, garnering a third seed and the 11th overall ranking.
The Cougars head to Monday’s titanic matchup after a dominating 82-61 home win over Texas on Saturday. L.J. Cryer hit six 3-pointers and amassed a game-high 26 points while fellow senior guard Jamal Shead added 16 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a season-high six steals. Emanuel Sharp added 15 points in the win.
Houston never trailed in the victory, using a 12-2 run to open the second half to go up by 23 points. The Cougars led by as many as 26 points in the game and held Texas to just 38.6 percent shooting and its lowest scoring output of the season.
“Our defense was really good,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said about the win over Texas. “We were active in pick-and-roll defense, we got a lot of deflections, loose balls, and we started converting. We had a lot of looks that we weren’t making, but our defense didn’t change. We talk about our holy trinity all the time. We defend, we rebound and we take care of the ball.”
The Cougars are now 6-0 at home in conference play and have won those six games by an average of 21.8 points. Houston leads the nation in both NET ranking and KenPom’s adjusted efficiency metrics.
Don’t expect all those figures to phase Iowa State, which travels to Houston carrying a four-game winning streak, the latest an 82-74 home victory over Texas Tech on Saturday. Keshon Gilbert poured in 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead a balanced Cyclones attack as they built a 14-point lead at the half that they expanded to 58-37 8 1/2 minutes into the second half and held on.
Curtis Jones added 12 points for the Iowa State, with Milan Momcilovic, Tamin Lipsey and Robert Jones hitting for 10 apiece. The Cyclones have won seven of their past eight outings and beat Houston 57-53 at home on Jan. 9.
“There’s not an ego out there that is trying to make a shot or play for themselves. It’s everything for the team,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said after Saturday’s win. “We need to stay focused on getting the stops late in the game. You gotta make sure your focus is for the full 40 minutes because everybody is going to keep coming at you.”
With six league games remaining, Monday’s contest won’t decide the regular season champion. But a win for the Cyclones would allow them to sweep the season series against Houston, which would give them the tiebreaker should the teams be knotted at the end of the regular campaign.
–Field Level Media
