UH-Tulane rundown: Cougars look to extend win streak in rematch

UH guard Marcus Sasser, who hit a career-high eight 3-pointers against Tulane on Jan. 9, holds his form after a free throw against Tulsa on Jan. 20 at Fertitta Center. | Andy Yanez/The Cougar

The Houston men’s basketball team will face off against Tulane for the second time this season on Thursday in New Orleans.

The Cougars (13-1, 8-1 American Athletic Conference) enter the contest on a six-game winning streak, which has propelled them into sixth place in both the AP Poll and Coaches Poll, and fourth in the NCAA’s NET rankings.

UH defeated Temple in its last game 68-51 on Saturday.

Guards Quentin Grimes and Marcus Sasser continued their recent hot streaks as both led the team with 15 points each. Senior forward Justin Gorham had his fifth double-double of the season in that game as well (14 points, 10 rebounds).

Grimes was also named the AAC’s Conference Player of the Week on Monday. He averaged 16.5 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the Cougars’ wins over the Owls and Golden Hurricane.

The Cougars enter the game with the No. 1 scoring defense in the nation, holding opponents to only 56.3 points per game.

A look at the Green Wave

Tulane (6-4, 1-4 AAC) enters the game off a 65-57 loss against Temple on Jan. 16. The Green Wave have had two games postponed since then due to COVID-19 issues.

Sophomore guard Jaylen Forbes leads the Green Wave with 15.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

In the previous meeting between the two teams, the Cougars won 71-50. Junior guard Jordan Walker led Tulane with 13 points and three rebounds against UH.

Sasser scored 28 points in the win, and he broke his own Fertitta Center record for most 3-point field goals made in a game as he hit eight of them.

UH’s focus heading into Thursday will be to continue to improve on itself.

“For us, it’s just keep pounding the rock,” UH head coach Kelvin Sampson said. “There are some things I feel like we can better at. There are a lot of things we are getting better at. There is a reason we’ve won six in a row and 13-1.”