No. 6 Houston forward Justin Gorham secures the basketball and prepares to attempt a contested layup. After the game, Gorham said the team was happy to see Cameron Tyson’s hours practicing payoff. | Andy Yanez/The Cougar
Junior guard Quentin Grimes’ absence was no problem for No. 6 Houston in its 83-60 win at Tulane on Thursday night.
Seemingly out of nowhere, redshirt sophomore guard Cameron Tyson came off the bench and tied a program record for by hitting nine 3-pointers against Tulane, and the rest of his teammates loved it.
“They were reveling in his success,” UH coach Kelvin Sampson told reporters after the game. “They wanted him to keep shooting.”
Through the first five minutes of the game, the Green Wave were within two, and then the Cougars (14-1, 9-1 American Athletic Conference) stepped on the gas. They went on a 13-0 run in the next four minutes, which quickly grew into a 29-3 run.
By halftime, UH led by 30 points, and Tyson, who finished the game with a career-high 31 points, had hit five of his nine 3-pointers. The break did nothing to cool him down either, at one point he was 8-of-11 from behind the arc.
Eventually, Tyson hit the ninth 3-pointer, which put him along with Robert McKiver as the only UH players in program history to hit that many long-distance shots in a single game.
Sampson and his players were happy to see the offensive explosion from Tyson. The UH head coach called it a byproduct of the countless hours put in the gym.
Senior forward Justin Gorham said it is something Tyson works on each day. Before practice, during, after, even on nights before a game, he goes and shoots some more after the team has had to watch film.
“It’s something we see every day in practice,” Gorham said. “It is something we saw all of last year, and we knew when he got his opportunity, he was going to make his big threes.”
Tyson was not alone in putting a good showing on Thursday. Freshman guard Tramon Mark, who got the start in place of the injured Grimes, scored 12 of his 16 points in the opening half, and Gorham tracked down 14 rebounds at the break as well.
The Cougars led by as many as 32 points and appear to be hitting on all cylinders right now as they have won seven straight games, and that is the only thing that matters to the UH players.
“We don’t care who is getting the shine as long as our team wins,” Gorham said.
Winning cures everything, and right now, winning is the only thing for UH. After a bit of a rocky stretch following the team’s return from its 15-day layoff due to COVID-19 issues, the Cougars have regained their dominance.
After Thursday night’s win, they hold a three-game lead over Wichita State, who is currently second in the AAC.
Don’t tell the Cougars though, they won’t put too much stock into it. Their focus remains on victories and playing the right way.
“I feel like the chemistry on our team is outstanding,” Gorham said. “If a man is open, we’re going to make the extra pass.”
