If one wants to find the difference between a perennial powerhouse and a team simply fighting for respect of any kind, all one has to do is look at the statistics sheet from UH’s 89-77 loss to Memphis on Wednesday night.
For this task, only one statistic will be needed: shooting percentage.
Memphis, The Associated Press No. 1 squad, shot 58.5 percent (31 of 53) from the field, and UH topped out at 35.3 percent (24 of 68). And no, this is not a misprint.
The statistics show that Memphis nearly shot the lights out at Hofheinz Pavilion, while the Cougars left a pile of bricks stacked to the ceiling.
Memphis put on a shooting clinic. The Tigers made their layups, hit their jumpers, threw down a few dunks and stayed rooted to the free-throw line (35 attempts).
Memphis junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts and junior forward Robert Dozier, who combined for 51 points on 18-of-26 shooting, did whatever they wanted against all defenders who stood in their way.
The Cougars, on the other hand, shot themselves out of the game and a chance at a major upset.
These next statistics show how badly the Cougars needed a win to improve their chances of reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1992.
UH entered Wednesday’s game with a Ratings Percentage Index of 76 and a strength of schedule ranking of 207. The Cougars’ best win to date came against Marist (RPI of 86), and they’ll only face one more team with a better RPI this season.
In case you were wondering which team, it’s Memphis, which will probably make a clean sweep of its Conference USA slate.
Yeah, Wednesday’s loss hurts Houston’s NCAA tournament aspirations. But the Cougars insist they’re not ready to ponder their future.
"We know we have a long, tough road ahead of us, but we’ve got to take it one game at a time," senior guard Dion Dowell said. "I’m not going to think now about the season. I’m thinking about Central Florida (the Cougars’ next opponent) right now."
That’s fine, but the Cougars will have to revisit that future when they have their rematch at Memphis on Feb. 13. Again, they’ll go into that contest desperately needing an upset to upgrade their NCAA tournament portfolio.
A win there would provide them with another opportunity to impress the NCAA tournament committee. A loss, and they’ll probably have to win the C-USA tournament to reach the Big Dance.
Either way, Dowell won’t settle for anything less than an NCAA tournament berth.
"(I’ll be happy) with making the tournament and going deep in the tournament," Dowell said. "If we don’t do that, we’ve failed this season. I failed as an individual and we fail as a team if we don’t make the tournament. Our expectations are to go to the tournament and do well."
It’s a tough mission, but the Cougars have no choice but to accept it.
