No. 8 Houston men’s basketball leans on defense, paint scoring in win over UCF

No. 8 Houston men’s basketball built a 18-point cushion before senior guard Milos Uzan knocked down the Cougars’ first 3-pointer with just under 12 minutes remaining.

Uzan was the lone Cougar to connect from deep until the four-minute mark of Houston’s 79-55 win over UCF on Wednesday at Fertitta Center, as the rest of the team shot just 1-for-15 from beyond the arc.

It wasn’t Houston’s range that powered the win, but its trademark defensive pressure, which kept UCF from scoring a field goal for more than 10 minutes in the second half.

“The thing you can’t control is whether the ball goes in. You have no control of that and neither do they,” coach Kelvin Sampson said. “But the things we can control, we are pretty good at.”

While the Knights’ defense held Houston well below its average of nine 3-pointers per game, the Cougars took advantage of openings in the paint, scoring 42 points in the area. Freshman Kingston Flemings consistently attacked downhill, leading all scorers with 18 points and six assists. Fellow freshman Chris Cenac Jr. totaled 14 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.

“With those types of players, you can have them run the show, especially when you have veterans like the ones they have who are secure in who they are and buying into their roles,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said.

One of those veterans, despite being a first-year Cougar, was graduate forward Kalifa Sakho, who logged 22 minutes and finished with a season-high seven points and seven rebounds. 

Sakho entered the game early for junior forward JoJo Tugler, who compiled seven points and five rebounds in just 14 minutes of play.

“When I get on the court for JoJo, I’m just like ‘I gotta go hard for him,” Sakho said. “Because JoJo be going hard, he does stuff nobody in America can do.”

Players who stay and help set the standard are what Sampson believes separate a team from a program. 

One of those returners is sophomore guard Mercy Miller, who scored nine points, grabbed three rebounds and was the only Cougar besides Uzan to hit a 3-pointer. 

Though he played limited minutes during his first season, his decision to remain at Houston has helped establish a foundation for the freshmen. Miller finished with nine points and three rebounds while playing double-digit minutes in back-to-back Big 12 games for the first time in his career.

No Knight scored double-digit points, with senior Riley Kugel leading the way with nine, as UCF shot just over 30% from the field compared to the Cougars’ nearly 55%. 

Next, the 20-2 Cougars travel to face No. 16 BYU on Feb. 7 with tipoff scheduled for 9:30 p.m.