I stopped watching the Houston-Alabama basketball game last Saturday at halftime; feeling comfortable that the Cougars had the game firmly in hand, I went to dinner.
Midway through dinner I received a text, informing me that Houston had collapsed late in the game against the Crimson Tide, losing 71-65.
Oh no, I thought to myself, that’s not good.
And late Saturday afternoon it turned out I had good reason to feel that way. The fifth-ranked Cougars leaned on the aftermath of that Alabama loss to overcome a slow start and blitzed Virginia with a 19-4 run to take command and eventually defeat the No. 2 Cavaliers 69-61 here in John Paul Jones Arena.
How different was the Cougars’ play here Saturday than against Alabama?
“Seventy hundred-twenty degrees from how we played against Alabama,” said Houston coach Kelvin Sampson.
I’m not exactly sure what that meant, but he was saying the Cougars were a different team today.
Even with a Tuesday game against North Carolina A&T, Sampson said UH’s focus after the Alabama game immediately turned to Virginia. Interesting, was that disrespect to the Aggies or just a sense of urgency in the Cougars preparation for UVA?
Collapsing late in the Alabama game, then falling behind 9-0 Saturday, you might think there was so uneasiness on the Houston bench.
Nope. At least not so one could tell.
Sampson said his team did not panic from the slow start, because he said his team knew they were getting good shots.
“We weren’t having to do anything miraculous to get a good shot, we just weren’t hitting them,” said Sampson.
Sampson said the team plays for the name on the front of their jerseys, not the back. Today, it showed, as Houston had five players in double-figures. Four Cougar starters played at least 34 minutes, and only three players came off the UH bench.
Houston had a blueprint of how they wanted to play against Virginia, and Saturday afternoon in front of 14,629 in JPJ they did just that, playing to their strengths, forcing turnovers, seven in the first half for UVA, and limiting shots with a suffocating defense.
Sampson also praised Houston’s ball movement, which was credited with 17 assists on 25 made field goals.
“I’m not even sure we passed 17 times last game (Alabama),” said Sampson.
It was the Houston defense that stood out today on a floor where it is usually the home team reaping those rewards. The UH defense constantly pushed back any late Cavalier charges. Unlike the Alabama game, in which the Cougars blew a 15-point second-half lead, Houston, after building an 11-point bulge, never allowed Virginia to edge closer than six points down the stretch.
Just when it appeared Virginia may make a late charge, as Kihei Clark stole the ball from Jamal Shead for a steal and layup to make it 54-48, Houston responded with two quick baskets to move back in front by 11 and putting the game on ice.
After the game, when leaving the arena, I spoke to Sampson and remarked what a great game the Cougars had played. Sampson replied saying, “it was a great game for college basketball, and something tells me we’re not through with Virginia this season.”
Virginia fans can only hope Sampson’s right.
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