Three Thoughts on Houston’s 86-46 Win Over Longwood
The First Round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament continued on Friday and the No. 1 seed in the South Regional, the Houston Cougars, handled No. 16 Longwood 86-46 in a game UH led from start to finish.
The Cougars were coming off a 30-4 season that ended with a blowout loss to Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship Game, while Longwood was a shocker out of the Big South. After only going 6-10 in conference play, the Lancers ran through the league tournament to punch a ticket to March Madness.
After UH’s dominant win, here are three thoughts on the game.
Never Look Back
The Houston Cougars jumped out to a 10-0 lead and took that to the 16:05 mark in the first half before Longwood called a timeout. It didn’t do the Lancers much good, as Houston to a 23-9 lead and took a 43-16 lead into the locker room at halftime.
After the win, Kelvin Sampson was asked by CBS about the best part of the last week, with the head coach saying, “The best thing that happened was getting a week of rest.”
Houston looked fresh and rejuvenated, with the team shooting 59% from the floor and 48% from three-point range. Jamal Shead had 11 points and nine assists, while L.J. Cryer led the team with 17 points on 6-11 shooting.
Returning From Injuries
Ramon Walker returned for the Cougars for the first time in over a month. With 12:44 remaining in the first half, Walker entered the game for the first time since February 19th against Iowa State. Walker scored one point and grab two boards in his first action since he suffered a torn meniscus which, at the time, was reportedly a season-ending setback for the junior guard from Pearland, Texas.
It was part of a string of injuries that Houston suffered in the last few weeks.
Leading rebounder J’Wan Roberts hurt his right leg in a Big 12 Tournament semifinal win against Texas Tech and missed the title game loss to Iowa State, though he started his team’s NCAA Tournament game Friday and finished with seven points and five rebounds.
Houston looked refreshed and it showed in many ways on Friday night.
Hello, Texas A&M
It’s a Big 12-SEC second round match up with the Aggies and the second meeting of the season. Texas A&M rolled Nebraska in their first round match up.
The Cougars won the first meeting 70-66 back in mid-December, but it wasn’t without a loss as Terrance Arceneaux suffered a season-ending Achilles injury.
Emanuel Sharp scored Houston’s last five points and finished with 21 points, L.J. Cryer added 17 in that match up to keep the Cougars undefeated at the time. Jamal Shead had 12 points and eight assists, and J’Wan Roberts had 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for Houston.
The two programs have played 83 times in basketball, with Houston holding a 52-31 advantage.
