Silent victories highlight Houston’s win over Notre Dame

Houston men’s basketball squandered a 22-point lead against Notre Dame, partly due to going nearly six minutes without a field goal, one night after a seven-minute scoreless stretch led to its first loss of the season.

With the Irish within four points after a 10-0 run, senior guard Milos Uzan launched a 3-pointer that could have given the Cougars a two-possession lead. 

He missed the shot, but graduate guard Ramon Walker Jr. grabbed the offensive rebound and drew a foul, ending the drought as Houston held on for a 66-56 win to close out the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

“As a coach, I know we are not playing very well right now,” coach Kelvin Sampson said, “but there are still silent victories.”

One of those victories came in the form of Walker, who finished with nine points, four rebounds, two assists and a block in 23 minutes of play. 

He was ready when his number was called, despite only playing two minutes in the entire tournament before Wednesday.

Another silent victory came from sophomore guard Mercy Miller, who had played just eight minutes in each of the previous two tournament games. 

Despite going 0-for-3 from the field, Miller made four free throws during a 10-2 Houston free-throw frenzy that restored the Cougars’ double-digit lead and recorded four rebounds.

“Early in the season, they have kind of been in and out of the rotation, but because they are both great kids, their attitudes have been terrific,” Sampson said of Walker and Miller. “I was proud of them. It’s not easy sitting on the bench, ‘Am I going to play, am I not going to play?’ They didn’t play much tonight.” 

But when they did play, they made the most of their minutes. 

Many players’ standout performances have been quiet victories, oftentimes overshadowed by the team’s overall inconsistency.

Take freshman guard Kingston Flemings’ late surge against No. 17 Tennessee, which fell short amid a team-wide scoring drought.

Or senior guards Emanuel Sharp and Uzan, who combined for 52 points against Syracuse after a quiet showing against Auburn, when the spotlight belonged to the freshman class.

“It’s there. Can we get multiple guys playing well on the same night? That’s where we were this time last year,” Sampson said. “We weren’t very good this time last year. The thing that happened is we started getting five guys all playing well at the same time, and we aren’t the same team anymore. People judging us right now are seeing us fragmented. Some teams play their best basketball in November. I would rather play my worst basketball in November.”

Now, December basketball has arrived as Houston will return to action on Dec. 6 to face Florida State at the Toyota Center.