Houston vs. Longwood: NCAA Tournament Preview and Prediction
Here is everything you need to know about Houston and Longwood in our Cougars vs. Lancers NCAA Tournament first-round preview.
NO. 1 HOUSTON (30-4) VS. NO. 16 LONGWOOD (21-13)
Time, TV: 8:20 p.m. CT Friday, March 22, TNT, NCAA March Madness Live
Location: FedExForum, Memphis, TN
All-time series: First meeting between programs
Winner: Advances to the Round of 32 on Sunday to take on the winner of No. 8 Nebraska and No. 9 Texas A&M.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS
Houston: F Ja’Vier Francis, F J’Wan Roberts, G Emanuel Sharp, G LJ Cryer, G Jamal Shead
Longwood: C Szymon Zapala, F Jesper Granlund, F Michael Christmas, G Walyn Napper, G DA Houston
PLAYERS TO WATCH
HOUSTON
G Jamal Shead
Houston guard Jamal Shead is fresh off being named a First-Team All-American representative alongside some of the nation’s best players. Shead has now earned the title of Big 12 Player of the Year, First-Team All-Big 12, and First-Team All-American and is a semi-finalist for the Bob Cousy Award. The Texas native should be one of the players to watch in the entire NCAA Tournament, especially in Houston’s first-round matchup.
LONGWOOD
G Wayln Napper
Shead will have a tough matchup attempting to slow down Longwood guard Wayln Napper. The senior guard has been one of the top guards in the Big South Conference this season, averaging 14.6 points, 4.6 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game. Napper leads his team in points, assists, and steals and will be needed heavily if the Lancers plan to pull off a monumental upset.
KEY STORYLINES
HOUSTON
For the fourth time this season, Houston has the same storyline. How will the Cougars bounce back from a loss? While losing the Big 12 Tournament Championship Game to Iowa State was less than ideal for Houston, Kelvin Sampson was provided the opportunity to hit the reset button on his team and remind them how thin the margin of victory is in college basketball. Before the loss, Houston won 11 straight games against some of the nation’s top teams. Now that the team is heading into the NCAA Tournament after a loss, how will the team bounce back?
LONGWOOD
Make history. No one wants to be a 16-seed heading into a matchup against a team like Houston, but at the end of the day, Longwood has a shot to make history. While it’s not very likely, there have been teams to pull off the 16 vs. 1 upset before. 16-seeds are 2-150 all-time, with the previous upsets in 2018 (UMBC over Virginia) and 2023 (Fairleigh Dickinson over Purdue). Can Longwood make their path in NCAA Tournament history?
PREDICTION
Houston 87, Longwood 59. Houston is far and away the best team in the NCAA Tournament, and I have a hard time imagining them losing back-to-back games under Kelvin Sampson, let alone against a 16-seed. Houston will do what they’ve done all year and handle business.
