Kelvin Sampson rejoices with the crowd after UH’s thrilling overtime win over Texas A&M in the Round of 32. | Anh Le/The Cougar

With two starters having fouled out of the game, the remaining three just one whistle away from sharing the same fate and no time left on the clock, the Houston Cougars had just taken the gut punch to end all gut punches.

The nine-seed Texas A&M Aggies had just capped off a 13-point comeback in the final two minutes with an improbable buzzer-beating three-pointer from big-man Andersson Garcia to send the game to overtime. The Aggies in the building rejoiced while the Cougars stood stunned, knowing what was up against them in the next five minutes.

L.J. Cryer and Ja’Vier Francis: fouled out. Emanuel Sharp: four fouls. Jamal Shead: four fouls and hadn’t come out of the game at all. J’Wan Roberts: four fouls, and was playing on one leg after aggravating a shin contusion in the first half. Aside from Damian Dunn and Mylik Wilson, UH’s bench included Ramon Walker, who had just come back from a meniscus tear and had played a grand total of three minutes thus far, Cedric Lath, who didn’t start playing basketball until 15 years old and had been a garbage-time player until March and Ryan Elvin, the fan-favorite senior walk-on who almost exclusively played during blowouts.

Five minutes. That’s what UH had left at its disposal to keep the season going.

Head coach Kelvin Sampson immediately thought of his team’s game at Baylor exactly a month prior. The Cougars relinquished a 15-point lead to allow the Bears to send it into overtime, but UH held strong in the extra period for a massive road win.

“We had something to draw from,” Sampson said after the game. “And our kids are tough, man. We’ve got tough kids, and in that moment we needed belief and we needed toughness.”

In the locker room after that Baylor game, Chandra Chaney, the mother of late former Cougar Reggie Chaney, whose death in August rocked the entire program to its core and is still deeply felt eight months later, spoke to the team. It was a fitting way to cap a win that had come through immense toughness — Chaney’s calling card on the floor.

Now, a month to the day of that Baylor win, Chaney’s memory came to the forefront again. At halftime, Sampson, upset with his team’s toughness on the glass in what was an incredibly physical game, asked his players a simple question: What would Reggie do?

“I hadn’t mentioned Reggie other than when we watched him on film,” Sampson said. “But I brought Reggie up at halftime, and said ‘What would Reggie do, J’Wan? What would Reggie do, Ja’Vier?’ Because I didn’t think they played very good the first half.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Sampson saw Jamal Shead and Ramon Walker begin to get emotional, still deeply hurt from the loss of such a close friend — one whose number, 32, is patched on all the player’s jerseys.

That number, and Sampson’s solemn reminder, was more than enough to galvanize the Cougars. As they took back to the court, they did so not with the timid footsteps of a team on the backfoot, but the poised strides of a brotherhood who would not forget the memory of their beloved teammate.

The Aggies in the building rejoiced while the Cougars stood stunned, knowing what was up against them in the next five minutes. | Anh Le/The Cougar

Five minutes. Five minutes to get back on the scoreboard. Five minutes to seal the team’s future.

“He mentioned Reggie, and I kind of didn’t really listen to the rest of the speech. I kind of just started to tear up a little bit,” Shead said. “That dude was a warrior. He played with broken knuckles, stress fractures in his knee, back spasms. So when he asked, what would Reggie do? Reggie would fight. And I think we did that the second half.”

Emanuel Sharp, who finished with a career-high 30 points, hit a massive three-pointer to begin overtime and put UH on top 89-86.

Four-and-a-half minutes to go.

Not even a minute later, Sharp was called for his fifth foul, forcing Ramon Walker to come in having not played all second half. The Cougars clung to an 89-87 lead with 3:41 to go. Shead found Mylik Wilson under the basket to extend the lead to two possessions.

Two-and-a-half minutes to go.

After an Aggie layup brought the score 93-90, Damian Dunn missed a tough layup, but in came the Energizer Bunny Ramon Walker. Fresh off his month-long knee injury, Walker grabbed the missed shot and put up a massive touch shot off the glass.

Walker grabbed the missed shot and put up a massive touch shot off the glass. | Anh Le/The Cougar

Seventy seconds to go.

Texas A&M responded again in the final minute, bringing it within two points and needing one stop. Shead, the team’s unquestioned leader and best player, who hadn’t rested for a second in this game, nailed yet another clutch shot in a season of clutch shots to put the Cougars up 97-93.

Thirty seconds to go.

Nine seconds later, Shead was hit with his fifth foul, leaving the hobbled J’Wan Roberts as the only starter standing for UH. In Shead’s place came Ryan Elvin, the walk-on, a sign of last resort.

Eighteen seconds to go.

A&M hit two free throws to once again bring it within three. On the inbounds, the ball found none other than Elvin, who was fouled immediately.

The walk-on stepped up to the line for the biggest free throws of his life, in a game no one ever thought he would end up playing in, and took his shot. The first one long. Just off the back of the rim.

The walk-on stepped up to the line for the biggest free throws of his life, in a game no one ever thought he would end up playing in, and took his shot. | Anh Le/The Cougar

The second was pure, and it sealed the win for the Cougars. The five minutes had officially passed.

“Honestly I’m shocked that he missed one,” Shead said. “That’s the guy that we trust and is a pillar of our culture.”

Players, coaches, support staff, managers and family members all embraced in joy and relief. Some cried, some laughed, some were just happy. The Cougars stayed together for five more minutes and will get to do so for at least 40 more.

Sampson walked over to the UH fans and let out a tornado of fist pumps and emotion, before letting a hardy “Woo!” as he walked into the tunnel. Shead pointed to that black and red No. 32 patch on his jersey, and said “That was for the guy!”

“Our kids didn’t play together, they played for each other,” Sampson said after the game. “All these years I’ve been doing this stuff, I don’t know if there’s a more satisfying win than tonight. I just can’t tell you how proud I am of this group.”

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“Five minutes: How Reggie Chaney’s memory helped seal Houston’s victory over A&M” was originally posted on The Cougar

Willie Fritz coaches up UH players during spring practice. | Anh Le/The Cougar

Times are changing in UH football, and the team is only one week into spring practice.

Players have already noticed a striking difference in the energy and speed of practices compared to previous years, as new head coach Willie Fritz and his staff have begun implementing a disciplined, detail-oriented culture for a team that desperately needed it after a 4-8 Big 12 debut in 2023.

“As soon as you step on the grass and hear the first whistle it’s like full go, full go, full go,” said senior defensive end Zykeius Strong. “I’ve never been a part of a coaching staff that really amplifies every little thing. I’m really trying to emphasize that on the field, but mostly off the field.”

Throughout practice, coaches are active, encouraging players and maintaining their energy level. As each position group goes through its drills, Fritz can be seen walking to each group, observing and then coaching guys up on technique, spending seemingly equal time with each position.

Effort, discipline and ball security are paramount during practice. Every time a player has the ball — whether a play or drill is still live or not — they are expected to tuck it into their bodies and give the ball (with two hands) to a referee or manager. Yells of “Coogs don’t beat the Coogs!” and “Play through the whistle!” are repeated for the entirety of 11-on-11 drills. Anybody who fumbles the ball or doesn’t sprint back to the sideline fast enough during substitutions is forced to do a quick round of up-downs.

“Everybody’s out here competing,” Strong said, “Everybody has their best interest. Everybody’s just wanting to get better.”

That discipline is carried long after players enter the sidelines or exit the practice. When the team is out of meetings and workouts, the latter of which are tailored to each position group by Director of Strength and Performance Kurt Hester, players go through routine academic checks on class and study hall attendance. For returning players like senior cornerback Isaiah Hamilton, the new environment under Fritz is a welcome change.

“Everything is structured from the stretching lines to practice to dapping everybody up to school. It’s all like coming together and it’s like really gelling us together,” Hamilton said. “We didn’t have this type of structure and relationship with our teammates last year.”

Though the first practices under a new coaching staff normally come with plenty of adjustment, the buy-in from players since Fritz’s arrival back in December has seemed absolute.

Senior linebacker Jamal Morris is beginning spring practice with the third coaching staff of his college career, having transferred to Houston in 2022 after three years at Oklahoma. Morris, now entering his sixth season in college, has seen firsthand how the team has supported the head coach’s message.

“We all love Fritz. ‘In Fritz we trust,’ that’s what we say. We’re having fun with him,” Morris said. “It’s the most fun we’ve been having at practice.”

For many players, new leadership means new opportunities as guys are able to make new first impressions with coaches and let go of any baggage from the previous regime.

Sophomore running back Parker Jenkins showed plenty of promise in his freshman year in 2023, breaking out with 176 yards on 33 attempts in two games against Sam Houston and Texas Tech. However, Jenkins’ playing time dropped off, only eclipsing double digits carries just twice the remaining seven games with the rationale of “saving” him for future seasons.

“Coming off last year, once I got my shot they were kind of like, ‘Let’s kind of save you,’” Jenkins said. “It kind of like bummed me out. I was like, ‘Why can’t I just, you know, stay in my groove?’”

Under Fritz and running backs coach Jordy Joseph, Jenkins feels fully backed by the team heading into his second season.

“I feel like it’s a fresh start,” Jenkins said. “They have a lot of trust in me, and Coach Fritz has been giving me keys and telling me just to be me, basically.”

Still, the first practices under a whole new direction have taken some adjustment. New coaches bring a new system, new terminology, new coaching styles and a totally different mode of operation. But a big helper in getting things to work as they need is Fritz’s winning pedigree.

Between a pair of AAC championship appearances in the last two years and his success at the Junior College, Division II and Division I-AA level, Fritz already brings plenty of proof that his way works.

“I’m buying into what he what he got going on. I really like his vision,” Hunter said. “He’s won in every place that he’s been at every level, so I don’t see why he can’t win here.”

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“‘In Fritz We Trust’: Spring practice marks noticeable shift in UH football” was originally posted on The Cougar

UH suffered its worst loss under Kelvin Sampson in the Big 12 title game against Iowa State. | Anh Le/The Cougar

No. 1 Houston scored a season-low in points and fell in the Big 12 title game Saturday to No. 6 Iowa State by a score of 69-41, earning the title of the worst loss in Kelvin Sampson’s 10-year tenure at UH. It was also the fewest points scored by the Cougars since 1951.

Houston as a team shot 15-56 (26.8%) for the whole — a season-worst — while UH’s starting backcourt of seniors Jamal Shead and L.J. Cryer combined to hit just six of their 29 shots.

Redshirt senior forward J’Wan Roberts, who missed much of Friday’s game with a shin contusion, played just 13 minutes in the game, all in the second half. After the game, a dejected Jamal Shead focused on the team’s upcoming break team.

“He’ll be fine,” Shead said. “We’re okay but we’ve just got to get healthy and take this week to regroup.”

After falling behind in the first half, the Cougars came out of halftime out of sorts and conceded a 10-0 half-opening run to the energized Cyclones. UH committed two consecutive turnovers to allow Iowa State to hit its first four shots of the second half.

A seemingly lifeless Cougars could not muster up any significant run in the second half as they missed 12 consecutive shots through a nine-minute span. UH fell behind by as much as 32 in the game, blowing away the Cougars’ previous largest deficit of the season of 20 against Kansas in February.

The T-Mobile Center was overwhelmingly dominated by Iowa State fans, prompting Sampson to give props to the crowd after the game.

“I think I feel better for Iowa State than I do for us,” Sampson said. “That was an Iowa State moment… Kudos to their fans.”

UH will find out its first-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday during the Selection Show which begins at 5 p.m., where the Cougars will almost certainly land a 1-seed and have at least five days of rest.

“We’re all refreshed that we get to hit the reset button,” Sampson said. “You’ve got to hope for some good fortune and prepare your kids the best you can on how to play well that night, and we will do that in our next game.”

Houston dropped to 30-4 on the season.

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“No. 1 UH trounced by No. 6 Iowa State in Big 12 title game” was originally posted on The Cougar

Anh Le/The Cougar

Houston played 32 minutes and 56 seconds of its Big 12 semifinal game against No. 25 Texas Tech without a true forward on the court.

UH had begun the season with three forwards at its disposal: J’Wan Roberts, Terrance Arceneaux and Ramon Walker. After Arceneaux and Walker each suffered season-ending injuries, Roberts — a redshirt senior starter who serves as the team’s defensive leader — was left as the only forward available on the roster.

But when Roberts went down with a shin contusion on Friday night, the Cougars were left with only guards and centers on the floor while their heart and soul limped back to the locker room.

Roberts tried twice to come back into the game, but he couldn’t stay on the court longer than a few minutes. UH saw its 15-point lead shrink all the way down to three at halftime, and just a couple minutes into the second half, Texas Tech had tied it at 37. When Roberts exited the game for good with 16:53 left to play, Houston clung to a 40-38 lead.

That’s when everything flipped.

The Cougars broke the game wide open with a 20-1 run that saw Texas Tech go scoreless for nearly six minutes with all but two of those 20 points coming from UH’s guards.

“Just staying together. We lost one of our leaders,” said redshirt senior guard Mylik Wilson. “As guards, we just had to come together, stay strong and go get the boards.”

For a nine-and-a-half minute span from Roberts’ substitution to the 7:28 mark in the second half, the Cougars outscored Texas Tech 30-5 as L.J. Cryer and Emanuel Sharp combined to go 6-for-9 from three-point range in the second half. UH forced eight turnovers in that stretch.

For a brief moment, head coach Kelvin Sampson turned to an all-guard lineup midway through the half, the first time he’s done it all season.

“Coach just threw Damian in for Ja’Vier and he was just like, ‘Rebound. And if y’all don’t, there’s going to be consequences,’” said senior guard Jamal Shead. “And we rebounded and it worked out pretty well.”

After grabbing 13 rebounds combined in Thursday’s game against TCU, along with just two offensive boards, the Cougars’ guards improved that number to 19 and six respectively — a much-needed bump with Roberts out.

Shead himself bounced back from a shaky first half to score eight points and six assists in the second, attributing his and his team’s turnaround to a simple attitude adjustment.

“Our attitude wasn’t right at the end of the first half and kind of to start the second half,” Shead said. “But once our attitude became what it needed to be and our effort picked up, we’re as good as anybody.”

It was another gritty win in a season full of them for the Cougars. Between early losses in Big 12 play, plenty of hostile road environments and a slew of injuries, Houston has been able to stay together through all of it.

“I told them my leg hurt a little and they were like ‘I got you,’” Roberts said. “It shows how good our team is when adversity hits. It’s just about everybody having each other’s back.”

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“UH guards step up in lieu of J’Wan Roberts’ injury” was originally posted on The Cougar

UH overcame an injury to J’Wan Roberts and used a dominant second half to beat Texas Tech in the Big 12 semifinals. | Anh Le/The Cougar

The No. 1 Houston Cougars overcame an injury to redshirt senior forward J’Wan Roberts in Friday’s Big 12 semifinal game against No. 25 Texas Tech to advance to their sixth consecutive conference title game in an 82-59 win. UH outscored the Red Raiders 50-30 in the second half thanks in large part to 23 points combined from guards Emanuel Sharp and L.J. Cryer.

Roberts suffered a shin contusion while attempting to block a layup early in the game. He took to the court briefly following the injury but was placed on the bench for the remainder of the game after noticeably limping early in the second half.

“I landed on somebody’s foot and felt a little shock through my leg,” Roberts said. “I should be ready for tomorrow.”

The Cougars used a massive 20-1 run early in the second half to break open a 37-37 tie. The team held the Red Raiders without a field goal for over seven minutes while UH began the second half 7-for-8 from the floor.

Houston eventually widened its lead to as large as a 27-point gap thanks to another 11-0 run as Sharp and Cryer combined and six three-pointers in the second half. Texas Tech made six second-half field goals as a team. Cryer and Sharp finished with 20 and 17 points respectively.

“We understood what we had to do,” said senior guard Jamal Shead. “J’Wan playing hobbled kind of got us off to a good start in the second half, because he’s such a warrior and we kind of took it from there.”

Shead logged a double-double with 12 points to go along with 10 assists.

UH will play the winner of Friday’s second semifinal game between Baylor and Iowa State for the Big 12 Tournament Championship on Saturday.

Much like in Thursday’s win over TCU, Texas Tech, after scoring on its first possession, missed 12 consecutive shots and committed five turnovers to clear the way for a 14-0 UH run. But the Red Raiders woke up in a big way towards the end of the half while UH played without its veteran power forward.

Texas Tech hit its final five shots in the half to shrink what was a 15-point lead with six minutes to play in the first half down to just three at halftime before the eventual second-half run by UH.

Damian Dunn scored all eight of his points off the bench in the first half while fellow bench guard Mylik Wilson added nine points and six rebounds. UH improved to 30-3 on the season, marking the third straight season UH has eclipsed the 30-win mark.

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“Shorthanded Cougars dominate in second half; advance past No. 25 Texas Tech” was originally posted on The Cougar

J’Wan Roberts led the Cougars with 10 boards in a game in which they were offensively out-rebounded 30-9. | Anh Le/The Cougar

Houston’s defense against TCU in the Big 12 Tournament was nothing short of phenomenal.

The Horned Frogs didn’t score a point until nearly 10 minutes into the game and didn’t hit a three for the first 27 minutes of action. Houston as a team shot 53 total field goals; TCU missed 56 shots.

After the game, head coach Kelvin Sampson praised his team’s first-shot defense, and for good reason. In 65 possessions, TCU made the first shot attempt of its possession just 10 times, good for a percentage of 15.3. However, Sampson was admittedly upset that the Cougars were soundly out-rebounded, especially on the offensive glass. TCU grabbed a staggering 30 of their 56 misses, dwarfing UH’s nine total offensive rebounds.

“TCU is a really good offensive rebounding team,” Sampson said. “But I was disappointed with our physicalness and blocking out.”

The Cougars have become famous for their rebounding ever since Sampson took the helm and still rank second in the conference in offensive rebounding percentage. However, recent season-ending injuries to key rotational pieces in sophomore Ramon Walker Jr. and freshman Joseph Tugler have severely hampered Houston’s impact on the glass.

Since Walker was lost for the season in a practice before UH’s road win over Baylor, the Cougars have been out-rebounded in all but one of their last six games, with the TCU game becoming the widest margin of that stretch at 55-39.

Big men J’Wan Roberts and Ja’Vier Francis took on the rebounding load with a very solid 19 boards between the two, but according to Sampson, those two along with the team’s guards, who combined for two offensive rebounds, will need to step up in the near future.

“J’Wan’s had games where he had 20, and it’s probably gonna have to bump up. We’ll talk about it. Ja’Vier’s going to have to rebound more balls,” Sampson. “Jamal had games where he’s had 10 defensive rebounds. That’s got to be more of an emphasis.”

To be fair, TCU is lined with big, athletic players who aggressively crash the boards, so a rebounding edge against the smaller UH is expected. The Horned Frogs’s starting five features four players listed at 6-foot-7-inches or taller, compared to just three in the Cougars’ entire eight-man rotation. It’s a tough task for guards such as senior L.J. Cryer to box out such players, but one that he says the group still needs to improve on moving forward.

“It’s just sticking your nose in there trying to get one,” Cryer said. “They had a lot of guys that crashed the glass. So a couple of times when they shot and they bounced to the point line, we weren’t on the perimeter because those guys were crashing and we had to block them out. We just have to do a better job of sticking with our man and keeping them off.”

A date with No. 25 Texas Tech on Friday will likely provide some relief on the boards — the Red Raiders are a much smaller team compared to TCU and land towards the bottom of the Big 12 in offensive rebounding — but players such as senior guard Mylik Wilson are adamant that UH must control the glass better in order to continue in the conference tournament and beyond.

“We know what we’ve got to do. We know if we want to advance we’ve got to rebound,” Wilson said. “The guards have got to do a better job rebounding. Myself, personally, I’ve got to get at least 10 rebounds.”

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“Cougars see room for improvement after TCU win” was originally posted on The Cougar

UH held TCU to just 23% shooting from the floor in Thursday’s win. | Anh Le/The Cougar

The No. 1-ranked Houston Cougars opened up its run in the Big 12 Tournament with a dominant defensive performance against 8-seed TCU to advance to the semifinals with a 60-45 win.

Entering the game, TCU was the only Big 12 team that UH had not beaten this season, having lost to the Horned Frogs 68-67 in mid-January. Houston will face Texas Tech in the semifinals on Friday.

Despite thoroughly out-rebounding UH 55-39, including 30-9 on offensive boards, TCU scored just 17 second-chance points and an astonishing 11-36 on layups for the entire game. As a whole, the Horned Frogs shot a brutal 17-73 (23.3%) from the floor and not a single TCU individual shot better than 50% for the game. The team also did not make a three-pointer until the 12:36 mark in the second half.

Though he was admittedly disappointed with the team’s rebounding effort, head coach Kelvin Sampson still highlighted the team’s defense in the win.

“Our defense was good, I thought we shared the ball well,” Sampson said. “When you get in the tournament and you win you don’t don’t spend all your time trying to rehash it. You win and advance.”

Senior point guard Jamal Shead and senior forward J’Wan Roberts led the Cougars’ defensive effort with a combined eight steals and three blocks, while senior guard Mylik Wilson added three blocks and a steal in 22 minutes off the bench.

“I just feel like when you’re playing hard good stuff happens,” Wilson said. “Even if they’re getting open shots just being able to contest — that bothers people.”

Roberts finished with a team-high 10 boards to go with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting, while sophomore guard Emanuel Sharp led the gamer with 14 points.

TCU seemed to have a lid on its rim to begin the game, starting 0-for-14 from the floor despite rebounding five of its own misses in its first six possessions. The Cougars capitalized on the cold streak, shooting 7-for-10 themselves to take a commanding 16-0 lead at the under-12 timeout. TCU did not score until nine minutes and 40 seconds into the game.

UH led 31-15 at halftime, with the Horned Frogs held to just 7-for-37 (18.9%) from the floor in the first half with 11 turnovers.

Shead was the only player to score in double digits, logging 12 points on 4-for-10 shooting.

Houston improved to 29-3 overall on the season.

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“No. 1 Houston suffocates 8-seed TCU in Big 12 Quarterfinal” was originally posted on The Cougar

UH clinched the Big 12 regular season title in style with an impressive win over Kansas on Senior Day. | Anh Le/The Cougar

Since the start of Big 12 play in January, the Cougars have been breaking down the end of practice by repeating the phrase “Conference Champs.” After Wednesday’s win against UCF, Houston could lay claim to a share of that title in its first year in the league.

But after Saturday’s 76-46 Senior Day drubbing of No. 14 Kansas Jayhawks, the No. 1 Cougars are now the only team in the Big 12 able to say those words.

“We’re the University of Houston. We’re a damn good basketball program,” said head coach Kelvin Sampson. “We should never ever think that we should take a backseat to anybody. I’m proud of our program.”

After an emphatic first half that saw UH lead by as much as 25, the Cougars opened up the second half with an 11-1 run to go up 53-24, led by two dunks and a steal from junior center Ja’Vier Francis, sending the record 7,933 strong Fertitta Center into a deafening frenzy and setting up the eventual win.

After the clock hit zero, the nets were cut, and history was made.

“It’s been a long process since June,” said redshirt sophomore guard Emanuel Sharp. “We’ve been through a lot and we stayed connected through it all.”

UH finished the regular season 28-3 and 15-3 in Big 12 play. The Cougars also finish the season with a perfect 17-0 record at home. It is also the sixth straight year the Cougars have won a conference title.

Before the game, seniors Ryan Elvin, Damian Dunn, Mylik Wilson, L.J. Cryer, J’Wan Roberts and Jamal Shead were honored before the game. Shead finished with a game-high 13 points to go with eight assists and six rebounds and received a standing ovation as he exited the game.

“It’s awesome — all the love that this university has given to me,” Shead said. “It’s awesome that I could give some back.”

After the game, players and coaches alike spent time remembering their late former teammate whose number is patched on their jerseys: Reggie Chaney.

“This is my first championship without Reggie Chaney,” Shead said. “This year has been rough knowing what he went through. That patch means a lot. It’s good to win it for him.”

Stifling defense forced Kansas to begin the game 1-for-11 from the floor and committed five turnovers while another pair of rim-rattling dunks by Francis got the home crowd rocking as UH took an early lead at the under-16 timeout. After threes from guards Cryer and Emanuel Sharp forced Jayhawk timeouts after each, UH led 19-4 with 11:28 to go in the half. Cryer finished with 11 points to go with a block and a steal.

The Cougars’ onslaught didn’t stop there as they thoroughly dominated the Jayhawks in the first half and led by as much as 25 points before entering halftime up 40-21. Six different Cougars made two or more field goals in the first half, with Shead dishing out six assists. Kansas committed 10 turnovers in the half.

Roberts scored 10 points to go with a team-high eight rebounds as well as two blocks, while Dunn recorded 12 points with six boards.

UH will enjoy a two-game for the Big 12 Tournament and will begin play on March 14.

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“No. 1 Cougars clinch sole possession of Big 12 title, dominate Kansas 76-46” was originally posted on The Cougar

Jacob Borow won the Colin Montgomerie-HCU Invitational while UH as a team placed eighth in the Cabo Collegiate. | Graphic by The Cougar

UH junior golfer Jacob Borow posted three straight sub-70-stroke rounds en route to winning the individual title at the Colin Montgomerie-HCU Invitational, while Houston as a team finished eighth overall at the Cabo Collegiate early this week.

Collin Montgomerie-HCU Invitational

Borow was one of four Cougars to compete as individuals in the Collin Montgomerie-HCU Invitational, with junior Drew Murdock also finishing eighth in the tournament.

Borow started strong with a six-under-par first round in the 72-par course, following it up with an even better round of 65 strokes in the second round. Borow logged a 69-stroke final round to clinch first place by a margin of four strokes.

Murdock stayed under par with rounds of 69 and 68 to begin the event before rounding things out with an even-par final round to place eighth. Junior Laurenz Schiergen also finished 18th while senior Nick Sutton finished 40th.

Cabo Collegiate

After a strong start putting UH in second place after one round of action, UH slipped in the final two rounds of the Cabo Collegiate to finish eighth.

Three different Cougars went under par for the first round of the event as seniors Santiago De La Fuente and Austyn Reily led the way with scores of 68 in the 71-par course, followed closely behind by junior Wolfgang Glawe with 69. Freshman Chi Chun Chen recorded a score of 72 to round out the team’s top four.

In the second round of action, Chen, De La Fuente and Glawe all scored two-over-par rounds while Reily led the team with a round of 72. The day ended with UH falling to fifth place.

De La Fuente turned in the Cougars’ only sub-par round on the final day of action with a score of 70. Chen was the next best UH player with another 73-stroke round, while Reily and Glawe struggled with rounds of 76 and 77 strokes respectively.

UH will return to action on March 18 and 19 at the All-American Intercollegiate in Humble, Texas.

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“Men’s golf places eighth at Cabo Collegiate, Borow wins individual event in Sugar Land” was originally posted on The Cougar

Houston is one win away from winning a Big 12 title in its first season in the league. | Anh Le/The Cougar

On Jan. 13, after the Cougars had just finished their first-ever Big 12 road trip with a pair of disappointingly close losses at Iowa State and TCU — two defeats by a combined five points — a conference title seemed increasingly distant.

While Houston was still clearly a top team in the conference and looked nearly unbeatable at home, life on the road in the Big 12 was a far cry from the relatively cushy schedule of the AAC in recent years. It looked like the team would spend the rest of the year dealing with growing pains in the league’s many hostile environments, scrounging for road wins when possible.

However, 53 days later, and despite a run of season-ending injuries to key pieces such as freshman Joseph Tugler and redshirt sophomore Ramon Walker, the top-ranked Cougars have rattled off 12 wins in their last 13 games and are just one win away from clinching a share of the Big 12 regular season title in year one. Since the TCU loss, Houston has lost just one of its last six road games to earn the best road record in the league at 5-3.

“We’ve been a winning program for a long time,” said redshirt senior forward J’Wan Roberts. “It doesn’t really matter what conference we play in, we’re still going to be consistent.”

Roberts has helped spur the Cougars’ rapid improvement on the road. In the team’s last seven road games, the veteran big man’s stats have risen to 14.1 points and 8.8 boards per game — a significant bump from his season averages of 9.9 points and 6.9 rebounds.

Time and time again, Roberts has come up huge in tough environments, including 17 points, three blocks and an astonishing six steals in the UH’s overtime win at No. 11 Baylor. At Oklahoma on Saturday, Roberts poured in 20 points, returned from a deep right-hand laceration to help the already-shorthanded Cougars and recovered a loose ball to set up Jamal Shead’s game-winning jumper.

“One thing I tell myself all the time going into big games like that or in a road game is you know, we’re all we’ve got. We’ve just got to stick together,” Roberts said. “Everybody can play well at home. You’ve got the energy behind you the crowd behind you. But going on the road, it takes a different type of mentality to do that.”

On the bench, players like redshirt senior guard Mylik Wilson have stepped up to relieve minutes from high-minute guards Shead and L.J. Cryer, while graduate guard Damian Dunn has made big plays despite an up-and-down year. The most recent guy to step up to the plate, however, is a previously bench-warming redshirt freshman center from the Ivory Coast, Cedric Lath.

Lath joined the team midway through last season and had thus far only seen a few minutes here and there in blowouts for UH. But when rising star Joseph Tugler was ruled out for the year with a broken foot before the OU game, Lath was thrust into the first significant minutes of his career.

The hulking, 6-foot-9 center played 10 crucial minutes while starter Ja’Vier Francis sat out with early foul trouble, grabbing two boards and swatting a floater back to the stands.

“I had fun, Coach (Kelvin Sampson) told me, ‘Just play your game and that’s it,’” Lath said, “I think the advice (from teammates) that really helped me the most is just ‘Play like your head is on fire.’”

Now, with the Big 12 title in reach, players like Cryer, who won two conference championships in three years at Baylor, have begun to recognize what the feat could mean for the Cougars.

“I‘d be really special because as Houston’s first year in the Big 12, and to win in your first year, it doesn’t get any better than that,” Cryer said. “It may not be a big deal to a lot of people right now. But in 10 years, when we have a reunion down the line, and we all get back together, we’re gonna be able to come in and look up (at the banner) and know that that was ours. We made history.”

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“Wounded Cougars close in on landmark Big 12 title” was originally posted on The Cougar