Junior guard DeJon Jarreau will look to continue his strong play against USF on Sunday afternoon after finishing with his second double-double of the season on Thursday night. The 6-foot-5-inch guard had 18 points and 11 rebounds in the win against UConn. | Mikol Kindle Jr./The Cougar
The No. 25 Cougars begin a three-game week against the conference rival South Florida Bulls on Sunday afternoon at Fertitta Center.
Houston enters the game off of a gritty comeback win against Connecticut on Thursday night and is 15-4 this season and 5-1 against The American.
In the win, redshirt freshman Caleb Mills scored 20 points off the bench and junior guard DeJon Jarreau finished two assists shy of a triple-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
A look at USF
The Bulls enter Sunday’s game losers of four-straight with an 8-11 overall record, 1-5 in the conference, and are coming off of a 56-43 loss to the Wichita State Shockers.
South Florida is 0-3 on the road in conference games this season.
For head coach Kelvin Sampson, the game against USF will be a competition against a long-time pal.
“Brian Gregory and I are really really good friends,” Sampson said. “We come from the same coaching tree. He actually started off as a grad assistant just like I did… I have a tremendous amount of respect for B.G.”
The biggest challenge for the Cougars on Sunday will be defending the Bulls’ backcourt.
“His two guards are pitbulls,” Sampson said. “Collins gave us problems last year. We could not keep him off the free-throw line.”
Senior guard Laquincy Rideau leads the team with 4.3 assists and 2.5 steals per game and junior guard David Collins leads the team with 14.7 points per game. Rideau is also averaging 12.2 points a contest.
“Rideau and Collins… (Rideau) is built a little like Jerome Bettis,” Sampson said. “He’s a fullback playing point guard, and Collins is kind of a tailback playing two-guard. They are both physical, tough, strong guards, and as good as they are offensively, I think they are better defensively.”
A look at the all-time series
Houston is 9-5 all-time against USF, including 4-0 against head coach Brian Gregory.
The Cougars have won the last five-straight games against the Bulls including a 71-59 victory in the last meeting on Feb. 23, 2019.
Sunday’s meeting is the first of two in 2020. USF and UH will meet again on Feb. 12.
The game will be shown at 1 p.m. on CBS Sports Network and will be on the radio on KPRC 950 AM.
