Houston Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp (21) thanks students and fans after an NCAA college men’s basketball game on Wednesday, March 4, in Houston, Texas. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
Houston men’s basketball survived a gritty battle on senior night with the Baylor Bears, winning 77-64 at Fertitta Center. The Cougars have now won back-to-back games to improve their record to 25-5 and 13-4 in conference play.
The 13-point victory came on the heels of a 20-3 avalanche run in the backside of the second half. Houston took its first lead of the game with just over seven minutes left in the contest off senior guard Emanuel Sharp’s fifth three-pointer and never looked back.
Four Cougars reached double-digit points, as freshman guard Kingston Flemings led the Cougars with 21 points and seven assists. Sharp was a close second with 19 points, three steals and a rebound.
Junior forward Joseph Tugler added 14 points and six rebounds while senior guard Milos Uzan gave the team 12 points and three assists. Uzan and Flemings were the only Cougars to record an assist in the game. Both Flemings and Sharp shot 50 percent from the field. Tugler also had an efficient night from the field, making six of nine attempts.
The Cougars faced two 10-point deficits in the first half before heading into halftime tied at 35 off a 16-6 run. Houston proceeded to open the second half on the wrong side of a 7-2 run and let three potentially lead-taking possessions slip past.
Momentum began to sneak over to Houston’s side when Sharp converted a four-point play after burying a deep three-pointer to cut Baylor’s lead to one at 44-43. Sharp then tied the game at 46 with a three-pointer.
After that, the Cougars found themselves in the midst of a three-minute scoring drought, which included four Houston turnovers, two close rulings going Baylor’s way and about 7,000 protesting fans.
Both teams exchanged buckets before Sharp’s aforementioned three-pointer put the Cougars up 59-58, part of the game-defining five and a half minute, 20-3 run. Houston outscored Baylor 27-10 in the final nine and a half minutes of the second half to put Houston on top.
When asked about the tide-turning run in the second half, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said the defense played really well as the Cougars forced Baylor to shoot just 1-11 from three-point land.
Despite forcing nine Baylor turnovers in the first half, the Cougars found difficulty capitalizing on them, scoring just 11 points off the turnovers while shooting under 40 percent in the first period for the third time in four games. Houston flipped the script in the second half, however, shooting 55 percent from the field and almost 40 percent from beyond the arc. They also scored 17 points off another nine Baylor turnovers.
Four Bears reached double-digit points, with freshman guard Tounde Yessoufou leading Baylor with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Senior center Caden Powell finished with 12 points and six rebounds.
Fifth-year guard Obi Agbim and redshirt sophomore Cameron Carr both finished with 11 points. Carr added seven rebounds as well. Six of Carr’s 11 points came off two deep, crowd-silencing three-pointers in the first half.
In the postgame conference, Sampson said the team was trying to get too many five-point shots early in the game and lost patience before the team started making shots.
“This is the kind of game you need to play this time of year. 30-point blowouts do nobody any good this time of year. You’re not going to have them,” said Sampson. “Look at Texas Tech, look at Kansas, this league is a monster. We beat each other up. When you get to the end of the season, you just hope you got healthy bodies where you can do a little something in practice.”
Uzan said he believed the turning point came at the eight-minute media timeout in the second half.
“We started stringing some stops together and started really playing five-on-five defense… Once we were able to get defensive rebounds, we were able to make a push and make plays.”
When asked about the life lessons Sharp and Uzan have learned in playing college basketball, Uzan expressed that a good attitude is key.
“Something that I’ve learned coming here, just giving the right attitude and the right effort, I think if you do that, not just in basketball but in life, good things will come your way,” Uzan said.
“That’s it right there… Being able to approach every day with the right mindset will get a lot of people through a lot of things… Nothing bad can ever come from trying your hardest,” Sharp said.
Sharp and Uzan were asked what they would name this chapter of their lives that is coming to a close. Sharp said he would name his chapter “lessons” due to learning the responsibilities of showing up for the team and what it means to be a leader. Uzan named his chapter “growth” due to how much he has grown this year, being a leader for the team and getting better as a player.
“The memories these kids have will be their diaries for the rest of their lives,” Sampson said regarding the emotions of senior night.
He expressed that all his groups – past, present and future – have made him a better person and better coach.
Sampson also added a comment regarding the response the seniors were given tonight when the crowd heard they would be receiving their degrees, saying that players who graduate from Houston do so because of their mothers and fathers.
Houston will travel to Stillwater to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys for the final game of the regular season at Gallagher-Iba Arena on March 7 at 11 a.m.
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