McCarty’s patience pays off as Houston rallies past Oklahoma State behind career performance

Freshman indoctrination rarely comes easy. 

Such is the case in Houston, where finding minutes in your first season is far from guaranteed, and a redshirt looms as a possibility. 

Just ask redshirt freshman forward Chase McCarty, who saw that become reality in his first year with the program during the 2024-25 season. 

It took a while for McCarty to find his footing, as would be expected during his first year playing college basketball. 

Coach Kelvin Sampson recognized that, adding, “If you keep showing up every day with the right attitude, giving the right effort, things will usually get better.”

The words never rang more true than Saturday in Stillwater, Okla., when McCarty recorded a career-high 20 points and six 3-pointers off No. 7 Houston’s bench in an 82-75 win over Oklahoma State.

With roughly 40 seconds left in the game and Houston up 77-73, senior guard Milos Uzan swung McCarty the ball on the left wing, side-stepping before cashing in points 18, 19 and 20 for his sixth triple of the night.

As McCarty jogged down the court with his tongue out, celebrating, so did his teammates, who held up a follow-through before his shot even went in. 

“Just to see their excitement when I’m hitting shots, making big plays. It means a lot to me,” McCarty said. “It means that they’re invested. They’re not just ‘Me! Me! I! I!’ guys. They’re team players.”

Houston’s togetherness was critical, as it once again trailed by more than 10 points. It was the fourth time over the last five games such a situation had occurred.

Trailing by 13 with 5:24 remaining in the first frame, Houston managed to trim the deficit to within four at intermission, as McCarty nailed two triples over the last 1:30.

McCarty’s offense helped atone for a slow start from redshirt senior guard Emanuel Sharp, who temporarily sat with two first-half fouls, but was brought in during Houston’s double-digit deficit.

“I just trusted my ability to make shots, and my co-point guards found me, King, Los, they found me in the corners, and I just shot it,” McCarty said.

The point guard tandem of freshman Kingston Flemings and senior Milos Uzan combined for 14 assists to just two turnovers, as Flemings recorded his second nine-assist game of the season.

Before McCarty put a cap on his career performance, it was Flemings who recorded the steal just moments before to set up the possession.

Houston entered Saturday emphasizing quicker starts after falling into early deficits in recent games.

“These past few games haven’t been great in the first few minutes of either half,” Flemings said to the media Thursday. “Trying to work on that, coming out and hitting people first. Not taking a hit and fighting back.” 

Houston absorbed plenty of punches, particularly in the first half, where it allowed 41 points and seven triples on 17 attempts.

“Their guards are volatile,” Sampson said. “Look at the shots they were making. They were shooting stepback, 24, 25-footers. We had a hand in the face. Was it frustrating? Yeah. But those are hard shots.”

After a brief, and early 5-0 lead, Houston wouldn’t see itself in front until the 14:35 mark of the second half. That’s when Uzan sank a triple, beginning a stretch of several lead changes between both teams.

The contested looks Oklahoma State was making wouldn’t fall at the same rate in the second half, as it went just 3-for-13 from 3.

Houston reclaimed the lead for good with 6:22 remaining off two made technical free throws from redshirt senior guard Emanuel Sharp.

Junior forward JoJo Tugler and graduate forward Kalifa Sakho also dealt with foul trouble.

Tugler, however, would still manage to play 33 minutes for the second consecutive game, adding 12 points, three blocks and two steals.

The 12 points gave Tugler his third consecutive double-digit scoring performance. 

With the win, Houston closes out the regular season with a 26-5 record, a 14-4 mark in conference play and clinches the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 tournament next week in Kansas City, Mo.

Houston will begin play on Thursday, March 12 in the quarterfinal round against an opponent that is to be determined.