Marcus Sasser, who leads UH in scoring averaging 17.1 points per game, is recovering from a strained groin the senior guard suffered during the AAC Tournament. | Sean Thomas/The Cougar
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Marcus Sasser, who suffered a groin strain in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament against Cincinnati, will be a game-time decision for Houston’s NCAA Tournament opener on Thursday night against Northern Kentucky, per head coach Kelvin Sampson.
“Game’s at 8:20 (Thursday) night. It’s one of those infamous game-time decisions, I guess,” Sampson said. “If the doctors think he can play and if he wants to play and we’re not risking further energy, then he’ll play. If he is, he won’t. Simple as that.”
Sampson said the AP first-team All-American guard “did some things” on Thursday to break a sweat but did not go full speed.
If Sasser is not fully healthy and could risk further injury by playing in the Midwest Regional’s No. 1 seed’s NCAA Tournament opener, Sampson said will have no problem not playing the Cougars’ leading scorer.
“Sometimes as a coach, you have to save them for themselves,” Sampson said.
Sasser said he is not yet back to 100 percent on Wednesday but will see how he feels in warmups prior to Thursday night’s game.
“It will be a real game-time decision. I’ll go out there, warm up hard, see how I feel and then I’ll let them go if I can go or not,” Sasser said.
