Houston guard Terrance Arceneaux (23) hits a slam dunk during the second half of an NCAA men’s college basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Houston, Texas. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
Houston men’s basketball, who has made plenty of history during coach Kelvin Sampson’s tenure, made even more Thursday afternoon, limiting SIU Edwardsville to 40 points, the fewest points allowed in program history in the NCAA Tournament.
Houston’s 78-40 bludgeoning of SIUE in Wichita, Kan. backed the Cougars’ status as a No. 1 seed and marked their seventh consecutive opening-round victory.
Junior guard Milos Uzan got his first taste of the tournament and finished with a team-high 16 points alongside three assists.
Graduate guard L.J. Cryer scored all of his 15 points in the first half, where Houston got off to the races mere minutes into the game.
Sidelined from the NCAA Tournament last year as he recovered from an Achilles injury, redshirt sophomore guard Terrance Arceneaux tallied 10 points off the bench for the Cougars.
Houston’s large second-half lead also allowed Sampson to nearly empty his bench, giving valuable experience to guards freshman Mercy Miller and redshirt freshman Kordelius Jefferson.
“Able to play our bench guys the last eight or nine minutes, good to get everybody some minutes, get a good win and move to the next round,” Sampson said following the game.
Miller recorded five rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. Jefferson recorded five points, and a steal in their tournament debuts.
“The first game in this tournament is always a little bit of jitters and nervous energy,” Sampson said during the TBS broadcast midway through the first half.
If the Cougars were nervous, their play did an excellent job of hiding it.
A buzzer-beating 3-point shot from Cryer gave Houston a 52-24 lead at halftime, encapsulating the onslaught from the first 20 minutes of the game.
The 52 points from the Cougars matched the most they’ve scored in any first half all season long.
Houston shot 61.3% from the floor and 61.5% from beyond the arc and only turned the ball over twice in the first half.
Even when SIU Edwardsville did force Houston into a miss, they countered with eight offensive rebounds, including three from senior forward Ja’Vier Francis, who finished the game with eight total boards, alongside 15 points on a perfect 4-4 from the floor.
The rebounding margin was another reason for the SIUE Cougars’ large deficit early. Houston outrebounded them 20-6 at halftime and held SIU Edwardsville without a rebound for the first 8:26 of the game.
Houston recorded 50 rebounds total, to SIUE’s 27. UH also finished with 19 offensive boards, more than doubling SIU Edwardsville’s seven.
UH also limited SIUE to their fewest made 3-pointers of the season with just two, holding them to 2-24 shooting from deep overall.
Houston is now 31-4 overall and will face No. 8 seed Gonzaga in the round of 32 on Saturday, March 22.
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“Houston smothers SIUE, sets program record for fewest points allowed in NCAA Tournament” was originally posted on The Cougar