Houston head coach Tom Penders didn’t beat around the bush. There’s no sugar-coating the predicament his team faces. The way Penders looks at it, his team’s post-season future could be decided by the outcome of tonight’s contest with Central Florida.
"This game is critical. This game is huge," Penders said. "If we can win, we can clinch no worse than third, which would put us in the opposite bracket as Memphis and an opportunity perhaps to play UAB again.
"It’s by far the most important and biggest game of the year. Nothing we’ve played in will be as pressurized as this game."
The Cougars enter the contest with a 21-7 overall record, but tonight’s outcome will directly impact Conference USA seeding. Their shocking one-point loss at East Carolina Saturday makes things more difficult than they should be.
Houston’s record (10-4 C-USA) places it right behind Alabama-Birmingham (11-3 C-USA), who beat the Cougars Feb. 20 in a 101-99 thriller.
This could be the final game for Houston’s five seniors Robert "Fluff" McKiver, Lanny Smith, Dion Dowell, Tafari Toney and Marcus Malone. Penders said the home court advantage could make the difference down the stretch.
"I hope our students come out and pay tribute to the seniors," Penders said. "If half of the students that showed up for East Carolina would show up here for this game, it would give us a big edge."
Home court advantage won’t be the only thing the Cougars need to survive against UCF before their last game of the regular season at Texas-El Paso.
The Golden Knights’ perimeter trio of senior guard Mike O’Donnell, senior guard Dave Noel and junior guard Jermaine Taylor average more than 45 points per game and Penders said that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
"They’re a very good team, and we were fortunate to come out of there with a win the last time," Penders said. "Last year, we went (into) overtime twice with them. They have three of the best players in the league with O’Donnell, Noel and Taylor.
"They lost to Connecticut by three and to Kansas State in overtime. You’ve got four or five games there that they could have won and been a solid NCAA Tournament pick right now. They’re really a good basketball team. We’re going to have to play a really good game to win."
