No. 8 Houston men’s basketball was trailing at intermission for the first time this season, prompting coach Kelvin Sampson to demand more from his seniors, particularly guards Milos Uzan and redshirt Emanuel Sharp.
“Coach came into the locker room, said our seniors weren’t stepping up,” Uzan said after Houston’s 67-60 win. “I think we kind of just took pride in that.”
Up until then, Houston’s leading seniors had combined for just two points on 1-for-10 shooting, with Sharp missing most of the first half due to foul trouble.
Opposite them, senior guard Day Day Thomas scored 12 first-half points, including 10 in succession, handing Cincinnati a 33-28 lead at halftime.
All of it was a reminder of what it took to win on the road in the Big 12, with Houston’s 14-game conference road winning streak being put to the test in front of a fervent, sold-out crowd at Fifth Third Arena.
For Uzan, the first half was a continuation of a season that has been a struggle offensively, as he entered shooting 35.9% from the field and just 26.3% from 3-point range.
The second half? A continuation of who Uzan has been in high-pressure moments throughout his time as a Cougar.
Houston hadn’t trailed by 10 all season long until the 17:34 and 17:09 marks of the second half, and the margin wouldn’t last long, as Uzan emerged to nail back-to-back 3-pointers, trimming Cincinnati’s lead to four.
Nearly four minutes later, another 3-pointer, in stepback fashion. Tied game, 42-all.
With 2:48 remaining, Uzan sank his fourth and final 3-pointer of the afternoon, giving Houston the lead for good at 63-60.
He finished with 16 second-half points on a very efficient 6-for-7 shooting from the floor. No other Cougar tallied more than nine points in the half.
“The guy that willed us was Milos,” coach Kelvin Sampson said. “He’s been struggling a little bit, but it’s still early, for everybody.”
It took Sharp until 14 seconds remaining in the contest for him to get on the board, making two free throws to give Houston its final point total. He finished with two points on 0-for-9 shooting, snapping his stretch of 28 consecutive games with a made 3-pointer in the process.
However, Sharp found a different rhythm, limiting Thomas to just three second-half points–all free throws, on a 3-point foul by freshman forward Chris Cenac Jr. and zero field goals made on four attempts.
It’s the competitiveness and matchups that Sharp likes about the Big 12 conference, adding that “every game is a prize fight—just having that great competition on the court.”
The competition had Houston and Cincinnati in a murky, low-scoring deadlock early.
Both teams began the game 8-for-34 from the field through the first 7:30, with Houston trailing 17-8. Houston then awoke with a 10-0 run, featuring two slams from graduate forward Kalifa Sakho, who returned after missing his last three contests with a knee injury suffered against Jackson State.
Freshman guard Kingston Flemings’ 10-point first half kept Houston within striking distance while playing all 20 minutes. He would finish with 19, leading all scorers for both teams.
In a surprising development, junior forward JoJo Tugler now has more steals than blocks on the season, after recording four steals and two blocks against the Bearcats.
It is Tugler’s third time in 14 games this season where he has tallied four or more steals.
He finished with eight points on 4-for-5 shooting, including a pivotal second-chance tip dunk off of a Flemings miss at the rim with 54 seconds remaining to go up 65-60.
Saturday also extended Houston’s winning streak against Cincinnati to 13, with it dating back to 2020.
Houston will next open Big 12 play at home when it welcomes No. 18 Texas Tech at Fertitta Center on Jan. 6 at 8 p.m. CT.
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