It’s no secret that Houston head coach Tom Penders is a firm believer in home-court advantage. In the past, he’s done everything except buy students tickets in an effort to make Hofheinz Pavilion as rowdy as possible.
Well, that can now be etched off his to-do list. On Friday, Penders and Houston Director of Athletics Dave Maggard donated $1,000 each to pay for 400 tickets to Houston’s 8 p.m. College Basketball Invitational game against Valparaiso on Monday. The first 200 students at the Cullen entrance to Hofheinz Pavilion when the doors open at 6:30 p.m. will receive the free seats. The other 200 tickets will be given to UH faculty and staff members. The first 100 faculty and staff members at the door will be given two tickets.
"I want to give something back to the students, because there aren’t free tickets for post-season tournament games," Penders said. "Lots of kids don’t have the extra five bucks. I thought it would be a great thing to do to pay back the students. I know Dave(Maggard) and I feel that they do a great job for us, and it’s just a sign of appreciation. Hopefully we get more students to come out because we need to get at least 500 students there."
Valparaiso improved to 22-13 with its first-round, 1-point win over Washington on Wednesday. Penders said the Crusaders, like his team, can light it up from behind the 3-point line and could pose difficult matchups.
"People think we shoot threes. They’ve got four guys on the floor at all times that can shoot threes. They’re a very athletic team, a team that a lot of people don’t get a chance to see."
He said Valparaiso played tough against NCAA Tournament East Region No. 7 seed Butler in two close losses in the regular season.
"They moved in the Horizon League this year, which Butler dominated," Penders said. "They lost by (8) and 3 (points) to Butler, and we all saw what Butler did to South Alabama in the NCAA Tournament. In the last 10 years or so they’ve had a better tradition going than we’ve had."
The Cougars advanced to the second round of the first-year CBI tournament by edging out Nevada in an 80-79 road win Tuesday night. Senior center Marcus Cousin hit the game-winning free throw with 26.5 seconds remaining, and Houston’s defense held strong for the victory.
Penders said his team showed a few characteristics it had been lacking in its recent contests.
"Our guys played hard, they played smart, they played together and they did all the right things down the stretch this time to close it out," Penders said. "Ironically, that’s how we lost three out of our last four. We didn’t quite do everything right, and we didn’t quite finish off some games that we could have won."
Penders said the win is important in terms of his team’s mental progression over the last week.
"Other than Kentucky, I think that was our best win of the season," Penders said. "(Nevada has) been a perennial champion in the WAC. They’ve got an unbelievable home court and they’re a very good basketball team. They were tied for first in their league, and they’re one of the better programs in the country over the last five years."
