
Houston Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson talks to his team before the first half of an NCAA men’s college basketball game, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Houston, Texas. | Oscar Herrera/The Cougar
In preparation for No. 7 Houston men’s basketball’s marquee matchup against the No. 12 Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse, head coach Kelvin Sampson introduced something uncommon during film study: crowd noise.
Playing video from Houston’s last road battle with the Jayhawks, Sampson challenged the Cougars to block out distractions just as they will have to do on Saturday when they match up with what he called “the best basketball program in the country.”
The stakes
Saturday’s showdown is set to challenge Houston’s 7-0 conference record like no other team has done during this stretch. Kansas is the Cougars’ first ranked opponent since they faced then-No.9 Alabama on Nov. 26.
Along with being undefeated in conference play, Houston is riding a season-best 11-game winning streak, bludgeoning opponents by an average point differential of 23.
A loss on Saturday would reel back Iowa State and Arizona in the Big 12 title race, who both have only lost one conference game this year.
A 58 year history
Heading into the heavyweight bout, Kansas has an all-time record of 6-3 against Houston. The two teams’ history dates back to the 1966-67 season when they met for the first time in the NCAA tournament. The Cougars won 66-53 behind a 20-point night from Don Chaney.
While their Big 12 history doesn’t extend past last season, when the Cougars joined the conference, the programs quickly became reacquainted.
In their first meeting, the Jayhawks defended their home floor against the Cougars, winning 78-65 and holding Houston to just 36.2% from the field. Houston returned the favor five weeks later, drilling 17 threes and forcing 17 turnovers in a comfortable 76-46 route at the Fertitta Center to claim the Big 12 regular season title.
The opponent
This season’s Jayhawks roster features many different faces than the one Houston faced twice last year, with only three players from their 2023-24 squad returning.
The high roster turnover hasn’t affected Kansas’ production; the team boasts nearly identical field goal percentages (48.8% in ‘23-24, 48.2% in ‘24-25) and three-point percentages (33.2% in ‘23-24 and 33.3% in ‘24-25).
Another distinct difference with this iteration of the Jayhawks is how they have gotten smaller. Johnny Furphy, 6’9”, and Kevin McCullar Jr., 6’6”, who shot a combined 13-of-15 from the field at Allen Fieldhouse last year against Houston, were drafted to the NBA this past summer.
One of the constants in this Kansas offense is graduate center Hunter Dickinson. While Houston limited Dickinson to 11 points in their March matchup of last season, well below his season average of 17.8 points per game, it was a different story in their first meeting.
Dickinson had his way with the Cougar defense, scoring 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Dickinson’s interior presence extends beyond his scoring. He has snagged 10.2 rebounds per game, his second consecutive year averaging double-digit boards.
A complimentary piece alongside Dickinson in the frontcourt, freshman forward Flory Bidunga has come into his own as one of the conference’s top shot blockers.
Bidunga has seen his minutes gradually climb as of late, and with that has come an increase in production. He’s recorded at least one block in each of his last six games, including four in his last game against TCU on Jan. 22.
“He’s a first-round pick whenever he comes. He has long arms and plays hard, he’s active. He’s a good fit with Dickinson,” Sampson said.
Senior transfer guard Zeke Mayo will be coming into Saturday’s matchup scorching hot, averaging 18.9 points per game in his last nine performances, right in line with his scoring production from last season. During this 9-game stretch, he has had scoring outbursts of 27, 26, 25, 24, and 23 points.
Mayo, by far and away, attempts the most threes per game of any Jayhawk at 5.9 and nails them at a 37.7% clip.
Kansas’ offense is rounded out by the guard play of long-time Jayhawk Dajuan Harris Jr., a member of the 2022 National Championship team. As their floor general, he averages 5.4 assists per game and is third all-time in school history in assists.
Houston’s approach
The star power for Saturday’s contest may rest in the hands of the frontcourt. For Houston, graduate forward J’Wan Roberts has stepped up his scoring output recently and has demonstrated his dependability in close, late-game situations, which this game very well may be.
Sophomore forward Jojo Tugler has had a similar season trajectory to Kansas’ Bidunga, earning an increased role with his tenacity on defense and shot-blocking ability.
Together, they will have their hands full in their matchups against Dickinson and Bidunga, two players who attempt nearly everything inside the arc and are powerful rebounders.
Kansas has a pedigree of punishing teams inside the arc. They attempt over 40 2-point field goals a game while shooting 55.3%, amplifying the need for Houston’s rim protectors to be extremely engaged.
Houston may once again be without leading scorer redshirt junior guard Emanuel Sharp, whose status is questionable following an ankle injury prior to Wednesday’s contest versus Utah.
Redshirt sophomore guard Terrance Arceneaux and graduate guard Mylik Wilson were sublime defensively against Utah, combining for 8 of the Cougars’ 19 steals. They will look to instill the same kind of havoc on the Jayhawks’ guards.
“Terrance’s greatest strength is that he’s pretty good at a lot of things, and great at nothing,” Sampson said. “One of the things I tell our kids is you gotta get to the point where your greatest ability is your dependability, and that’s the way I would describe Mylik.”
The environment
Sampson and several players acknowledged the rowdy environment and allure of Allen Fieldhouse, which is lauded for having one of the most electric crowds in college basketball. One of those players is Arceneaux, who didn’t get the opportunity to play in last season’s meeting due to injury.
“I know it’s definitely a big deal,” Arceneaux said. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, play at Kansas, Duke, one of them schools.”
Graduate guard L.J. Cryer has played in front of the Allen Fieldhouse faithful twice before and downplayed the effect the crowd noise would have on Houston.
“Noise is noise at the end of the day. The game is played within the 94 feet, we just gotta keep it that way,” Cryer said. “Focus on the guys that are on the floor. It’s five on five, not five versus the (15,300) that they got.”
The Cougars will tip off against the Jayhawks on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan., on ESPN.
Editors note: The history section was updated to account for previous matchups.