Stingy defense remains a trademark for No. 3 Houston, which is making a push for a third straight regular-season Big 12 title.
Houston heads into Tuesday’s matchup against Utah in Salt Lake City near or at the top of the Big 12 in numerous key defensive categories. The Cougars lead the league in scoring defense (61.6 points per game) and rank third in field-goal defense at 39.3%.
Tough defense helped Houston (21-2, 9-1 Big 12) pull away late from then-No. 16 BYU for a 77-66 victory Saturday night. Visiting Houston racked up a fourth straight win after allowing just four baskets over the final 13 minutes while dealing with a tough road environment.
With the victory, Houston jumped from eighth in the nation to third in Monday’s new poll.
“We’ve always been able to stay true to our culture and how we do things on the road,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “I think that’s a byproduct of how we practice and prepare.”
BYU shot just 39.6% in the game, while Houston made 50% of its shots after halftime. Kingston Flemings led the way, scoring 11 of his team-high 19 points in the second half.
Houston clamped down defensively despite putting BYU in the bonus quickly in the second half. Constant pressure around the rim forced BYU out to the perimeter to take contested 3-pointers that stopped falling as the half progressed.
Winning the rebound battle also paid off for Houston with a 40-36 advantage on the glass, while scoring 17 second-chance points off 13 offensive boards. Three straight second-chance baskets during a late 14-5 run helped Houston pull away for the victory..
“This is how we play,” Houston guard Emanuel Sharp said. “This is how we’ve been playing since Coach (Sampson) has been here. Just getting back to our roots of crashing the glass because that wins games.”
Utah (9-14, 1-9) will see its offense take on a massive challenge against Houston.
The Utes fell 71-59 to Kansas on Saturday after shooting just 40.0% from the field. Utah made just two baskets over a nine-minute stretch early in the second half, opening the door for Kansas to go on an 18-4 run and take a 60-44 lead with 7:34 left.
Utah got 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting and 12 rebounds from Keanu Dawes, who authored one of his best performances of the season. But the Utes’ top two scoring threats – Terrence Brown and Don McHenry – went a combined 9 of 31 from the field in the loss.
It factored into the Utes absorbing their fifth straight loss and 10th defeat in their last 11 games.
“It’s little things in these games,” Utah assistant coach Martin Schiller said, according to the Deseret News. “In games like these, it’s going to be the margins, and those are important ones to not let it slip away.”
One bright spot for the Utes was their 3-point field goal defense. The Jayhawks shot just 3 of 18 from the perimeter and went 0 of 9 from long distance after halftime.
