Preview Paw Prints: Houston Cougars

No. 2 Houston leads the country with eight 30-plus point wins this season.

© Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats (11-5, 2-1) got their first road win of the season on Thursday. Now they face the toughest test yet in No. 2 Houston (15-1, 3-0).

Cincinnati has lost four in a row to the Cougars and likely needs to win at least two of the four Memphis/Houston games this season to earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. 

Wes Miller has a chance to bag his second top-15 win at UC (71-51 over No. 14 Illinois in 2021).

Houston enters the game ranked No. 1 in KenPom, while Cincinnati is 70th. ESPN's Matchup Predictor has Cincinnati losing this game 87.7% of the time.

Kelvin Sampson's team is the highest-ranked opponent to visit Fifth Third Arena since Memphis in 2007. The No. 1 defense (51 PPG) in the country is helping win eight games by 30-plus points already this season (No. 1 nationally).

Here's the preview of a rivalry that's continuing into the Big 12.

Tiny Tweak, Massive Results

© Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Did Cincinnati find the right lineup plan on Thursday night?

The insertion of Ody Oguama (second career UC start) for Jeremiah Davenport into the lineup gave UC needed size to start the game, rebound well early, and build a lead.

It resulted in UC trailing roughly 90 seconds all night and a season-best outing from Davenport (22 points, 3 rebounds, 8-of-12 FGs).

"It was real fun," Davenport said about the performance. "It all comes down to confidence. Confidence in myself. You keep pushing. I was in a slump and found my rhythm tonight. I'm going to keep pushing moving forward."

The 22 points marked UC's highest from a bench player since 2017 and a far cry from the total points scored off the pine against Temple. Miller made note that J.D. took no issue with the decision to bring him off of the bench for the first time in two years. That's not surprising, given how tight-knit this team is.

"It comes down to my team," the guard said. "Do whatever it takes to win. To give my team a chance to win, I'd do anything for my team."

They are veteran-laden, they want to win, and they believe in Miller when he offers these tweaks. The head coach cut Jarrett Hensley out of Thursday's rotation and the eight-man lineup worked well. No player finished with a negative +/-.

Expect this plan to get another test drive against astronomically more difficult competition in Houston. Funny enough, the best two-man lineup this season is Oguama/Davenport (+23.1 adjusted efficiency margin).

Dominant Cougar Defense

© Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports

Houston has a clear identity: slow games down, defend, and rebound.

It's hard to find anything they do poorly on the defensive end. The Cougars rank top-five nationally in field goals allowed (17.1, 1st), FG% (33.1% 1st), two-point FGs (27.8, 4th), two-point FG% (41.6%, 5th), three-point FG% (2nd, 23.2%), and points allowed (1st, 51 PPG).

It's amazing how consistent they are up and down the roster. No player that's logged at least 152 minutes has a defensive rating over 84.8.

Sampson squeezes every bit of effort out of his team in terms of rotations and physicality with an assembly line of long wings to throw at teams. Sophomore Ja'Vier Francis (7.1 Pts, 5.1 Reb, 0.1 Ast) fits that exact mold as he averages 1.8 blocks per game this season and an astounding 8.2 per 100 possessions. 

The 6-foot-8, 225-pound bruiser complements the play of the near carbon copy 6-foot-7, 220-pound J'Wan Roberts (9.6 Pts, 7.2 Reb, 1.1 Ast, 1.1 Blk). Those two are black holes defensively and will give UC's wing/guard strength all it can handle.

Viktor Lakhin needs to stay efficient in this game and make sure the paint stays somewhat accessible. If Cincinnati (8.9 made triples per game, 53rd nationally) has no interior presence, it'll that much harder to hit threes on an elite outside defense.

Polar Opposite Pace

© Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Dictating the tempo is very hard to pull off against Houston, but Cincinnati has to find a way to speed this team up. The Bearcats rank 98th in pace, while Houston's 340th.

Junior guard Jamal Shead (7.6 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 5.3 Ast) and senior guard Marcus Sasser (15.8 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 3.0 Ast) are the targets on Sunday afternoon. If UC can't force them into uncharacteristic turnovers to get out in transition it could be a long afternoon.

The duo combines for 8.4 assists per game to just 3.4 turnovers, mirroring a highly-disciplined team overall. Houston is 13th nationally with just 10.2 turnovers per game, and that's fallen to 8.3 over the past three games.

Another key to increasing the pace is defensive rebounding discipline while forcing Houston to shoot threes. The Cougars rank eighth nationally with 14 (!!) offensive rebounds per game, and 75th in two-point FG% (54.1%).

That last number drops to 169th from outside (34.2%). Unfortunately for opponents, Houston has that suffocating three-point defense mentioned above.

Knocking the Cougars out of their comfort zone, upping the tempo, and hitting threes should all be huge factors if Cincinnati pulls an upset.

The game tips off on ESPN at 3 p.m. ET Sunday. Watch via fuboTV—start your free trial here.

Make sure you bookmark All Bearcats for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more.

You May Also Like the following:

Preview Paw Prints: Wichita State Shockers

Report: UC Football Hiring Tom Manning As OC and Adding Josh Stepp From Louisville

Report: Former Louisville Outside Linebackers Coach Greg Gasparato Joining UC Staff

Look: Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, Coby Bryant, Other NFL Rookies Swap Jerseys

UC Offensive Lineman Lorenz Metz Declares For 2023 NFL Draft

Report: UC Football Hires Jack Griffith As Director Of Player Personnel

UC Legend Desmond Ridder Wins First NFL Game As Starter With Falcons 20-19

Three-Man Weave: Temple Stifles UC's Offense 70-61

UC Linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. Declares For 2023 NFL Draft

Bearcats Edge Rusher Jabari Taylor Declares For 2023 NFL Draft

Recruiting Roundup: UC Offers Pair Of Four-Star Running Backs

Report: UC Hiring First Football General Manager In School's History

NFL Executives Overwhelming Name Sauce Gardner NFL Defensive Rookie Of The Year

2022 UC Football Signing Day Tracker

UC Cornerback Arquon Bush Declares For 2023 NFL Draft

Sauce Gardner, Kelce Brothers Make 2023 NFL Pro Bowl

UC Running Back Charles McClelland Declares For 2023 NFL Draft

Watch: Viktor Lakhin, Ody Oguama, Wes Miller Discuss 72-54 Win Over Detroit Mercy

Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Rolls 72-54 Over Antoine Davis, Detroit

Watch: UC Head Coach Scott Satterfield Discusses Transfer QB Emory Jones, 2023 Football Class

-----

Be sure to keep it locked on All Bearcats all the time!

Follow All Bearcats on Twitter: @AllBearcats

Like All Bearcats on FaceBook: All Bearcats

Follow All Bearcats on Instagram: @BearcatsTalk