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4 takeaways from Houston’s dominating win against BYU

Cougars get it done on both ends of the court as Houston rolls at home

Buck Ringgold

Houston guard Emanuel Sharp (21) congratulated by teammates
Houston guard Emanuel Sharp (21) congratulated by teammates / Troy Taormina/Imagn Images
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Going into Saturday’s game, some - including Houston basketball coach Kelvin Sampson - expected the Cougars to get a serious challenge from BYU.

However, just several minutes in, Houston left no doubt as to which team nicknamed the Cougars was going to come out with the win. Houston turned in a fantastic performance on both ends of the court in a decisive 86-55 Big 12 Conference win Saturday afternoon at the Fertitta Center.

Houston blitzes BYU: Score, live updates of Big 12 Conference college basketball game

"This is always going to be a defense first and rebound program, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t trying to score points," Sampson said. "Some nights we don’t score because the ball doesn’t go in. Offensively, you’re just as good as the shots that go in.

"(Saturday), we didn’t play 86-point basketball; if we would’ve scored 76 points, then I would’ve been just as happy. I don’t care how many points we score as long as we win. That’s what’s most important.” 

Here are four takeaways from Houston’s dominating win on Saturday:

Sharp Focus

The tone was set from the get-go as junior guard Emanuel Sharp was in Houston’s starting lineup.

Sharp had been battling a foot injury earlier in the week. He played 22 minutes and scored just 2 points in the Cougars’ Big 12 opener last Monday, a win at Oklahoma State.

But Sharp showed no effects from his injury as he ended up leading all scorers with 18 points. He also made four of the Cougars’ season-high 16 3-pointers on the day.

Sharp gave Houston an early jolt by scoring five straight points, including one of his treys, to break a 4-all score. Houston never trailed from there.

Balanced Effort

Houston went up by double digits less than seven minutes into the game, going up 16-6 on a 3-pointer from Terrance Arceneaux. BYU got no closer than seven points after that, and Houston also maintained a double-digit lead throughout the entire second half.

How dominating was Houston? So dominant that its leading scorer, LJ Cryer, didn’t make his first basket until 13 minutes in, with a 3 that doubled Houston’s lead to 13, 26-13.

Cryer ended up with 9 points, while J’Wan Roberts, who had 20 points in Monday’s win at Oklahoma State, finished with 6.

Three Houston players ended up in double figures. Along with Sharp’s 18 points, Arceneaux finished with 15 points while Mylik Wilson had 12, going a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, including a pair of 3’s. He also had a highlight-reel dunk in the second half, helping punctuate the huge win in front of the vocal crowd at the Fertitta Center.

Defensive Gem

Meanwhile, Houston’s trademark suffocating defense made life miserable for BYU. In the opening half, BYU committed more turnovers (10) than it made field goals (8).

For the game, BYU was held to 37.5 percent from the field (18-of-48) and 33.3 percent from 3-point range (8-of-24). Houston also converted 24 points off of BYU’s 15 turnovers.

“ We just keep doing what we’ve been doing," Sampson said. "We did that against Troy, Toledo, and we’re a pretty good defensive team."

In addition, the Cougars put the clamps on BYU’s top scorer, junior Richie Saunders, who had 30 points in his team’s win against Arizona State in the Big 12 opener on Tuesday. But Saturday was a much different story, as Saunders was held to 9 points, including only 2 in the first half.

BYU also entered Saturday’s game as the top rebounding team in the conference, but Houston was equally dominant on the glass. Houston out-rebounded BYU, 37-24, while getting 15 offensive rebounds and making 18 second-chance points.

“I felt like we went out there and executed the game plan," Cryer said. "We knew where we needed to be on and off the ball. We went out there and played hard, and I feel like we’ve been doing that most of the season, but (Saturday) I felt like we finished it off with a rebound.

"Teams have been beating us on the glass, but I don't think they beat us off the glass (Saturday)." 

Turning 30

Saturday’s win gave Houston (10-3, 2-0) its 30th straight win inside the confines of the Fertitta Center, which is the nation’s longest active home court winning streak.

Since the facility opened in 2018, Houston is now 101-6 all-time at the Fertitta Center. Ironically, one of those six defeats came at the hands of BYU, during the 2019-20 season.

Houston won’t have to wait very long to go for 31 straight wins at home. The Cougars return to the court Monday night, welcoming TCU into the Fertitta Center in a game that will be televised nationally by ESPN2.

The win against BYU also extended the Cougars' current winning streak to six straight games after Houston started the season 4-3 with losses to Auburn, Alabama and San Diego State.

“The biggest thing was growth," Sampson said. "I think every team is gonna grow. I didn’t care about those losses. The educated and uninitiated always makes a bigger deal of a situation than it actually is.

"Who cares about November losses? We could have not played those teams. ... I think those three losses helped us. We had a chance to win all three, by the way."

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Buck Ringgold
BUCK RINGGOLD

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