No. 7 Houston destroys Hofstra, shows why its the best defensive team in college basketball
Hofstra came into Friday night's game against Houston with an impressive resume.
The Pride were 4-1, with wins over Seton Hall and UMass, and a respectable loss to Florida State. Their transfer portal guard trio of Jean Aranguren (Iona), Cruz Davis (St. John's) and Jaquan Sanders (Seton Hall) were averaging more than 47 points per game, combined.
They got a reality check vs. No. 7 Houston.
The Cougars' guard trio of LJ Cryer, Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan put the clamps on, holding Hofstra to 30.8% shooting and forcing 15 turnovers in an 80-44 victory at the Fertitta Center.
Hofstra's three guards combined to score just 26 points — and Aranguren, who came in averaging 18 points, was held scoreless.
It was yet another reminder of how good Houston is — and how impressive Kelvin Sampson's defensive game plans are.
"People have a tendency to say, when we beat a team like that, well, they're no good," Sampson said in the postgame press conference. "That team's pretty good. Sometimes it's not necessarily them. Maybe it's the team that's playing against them. It's pretty good. And tonight we were pretty good."
The Cougars featured their typical balanced attack on offense with three players in double figures and 11 players scoring. JoJo Tugler led the way with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists off the bench. Sharp had 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting from downtown.
The Cougars shot 50% from the 3-point line (12-of-24) and outrebounded Hofstra 39-32.
Perhaps the most impressive state of the night? Houston was favored by 28.5 points and won by 36. It's not easy to prove the oddsmakers wrong.
Houston wins by 36 in a game KenPom had as Houston -21 (and Vegas had -29).
— JBR Bracketology (@JBRBracketology) November 23, 2024
Hofstra is a solid T150 mid major who already upset Seton Hall.... Houston ran through them like a hot knife through butter.
Comical what this Houston team under Kelvin Sampson does to inferior… pic.twitter.com/eVdfTJtqkj
Houston (3-1) will now turn its attention to next week's Players Era Festival in Las Vegas where they'll spend the bulk of Thanksgiving week. They are scheduled to play No. 8 Alabama on Tuesday, Notre Dame on Wednesday and potentially No. 14 Creighton on Saturday.
Here's the bracket (all times CT):
Tuesday, Nov. 26
Power Group
San Diego State vs. Creighton, 1 p.m.
Oregon vs. Texas A&M, 3:30 p.m.
Impact Group
Houston vs. Alabama, 7 p.m.
Rutgers vs. Notre Dame, 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 27
Power Group
Oregon vs. San Diego State, 3 p.m.
Texas A&M vs. Creighton, 5:30 p.m.
Impact Group
Rutgers vs. Alabama, 9 p.m.
Notre Dame vs. Houston, 11:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 30
Impact 4 seed vs. Power 4 seed (7th Place Game), 12 p.m.
Impact 3 seed vs. Power 3 seed (5th Place Game), 2:30 p.m.
Impact 2 seed vs. Power 2 seed (3rd Place Game), 6 p.m.
Impact 1 seed vs. Power 1 seed (1st Place Game), 8:30 p.m.
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.