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What will be the outcome of the Houston game?

  • UC wins by 16+

    Votes: 8 18.6%
  • UC wins by 11-15

    Votes: 19 44.2%
  • UC wins by 7-10

    Votes: 12 27.9%
  • UC wins by 1-6

    Votes: 2 4.7%
  • Houston wins

    Votes: 2 4.7%

  • Total voters
    43
Scouting Houston:
Record:15-4
RPI: 48
Kenpom: 38
KP Off rank: 52
KP Def Rank: 39
Best wins: #47 Arkansas 91-65, #58 Providence 70-59, #20 Wichita State 73-59
Worst Losses: #263 Drexel (Neutral), #148 @Tulane

Offense:
Houston actually regressed a little bit offensively from last year, but they've made such huge strides defensively that it hasn't mattered. Like has been the norm the past few years, Houstons offense runs through Rob Gray, Who is being used on a whopping 29% of Houston's possessions. Gray leads the team with 19ppg but Houston is also getting help from standout juco guard Corey Davis Jr, who is chipping in 12 a game and can really shoot the ball from distance. Houston only has 4 guys who shoot from distance, but those 4 guys can really really shoot it well, with all 4 hovering around 37% or higher. One interesting thing is that none of their shooters are over 6'3, so will need to just make sure everything is contested. Houston's offense is very guard oriented however their bigs are much improved in offensive rebounding and usually do their scoring damage on put backs and second chance points. They pull in 34.4% of their misses which is good for 39Th in the country. UC will need to battle this on the boards. And it won't be easy, Houston really crashes the glass.

Defense:
Normally when you think Houston the past few years, you think Offense. But Houston as really turned into a defense first team and ranked #39 in defensive efficiency. They protect the rim at a pretty elite level and at the same time, really hound your perimeter players. They do seem to be more foul prone, so attacking them off the dribble is going to crucial for UC. Individually, Houston's perimeter core grades out as average defenders but where they shine is on the interior where Brady, Davis, Zanna, & White All grade out as good to excellent defenders. Pulling them away from the paint is going to go a long way in scoring against Houston.


Summary
Houston looks really formidable at home. On the road however they have struggled to win. WSU, LSU & Tulane have all handled them losses away from home. In fact their best win away from home was against a struggling Saint Louis team who is #147 in KP. If UC can frustrate their perimeter players and keep Gray out of the lane, we should walk away with a 10 point victory. But no doubt, this is the best team we have faced since Florida and if we come out slow, they have the firepower to punish us. However UC plays very different at home and I expect a pretty lively crowd and a top 50 bearcat win.

73-62 UC
 
I should also add that Houston has been running out a lineup with 3 6'1 guards (Robinson, gray and Corey Davis).

Thats going to be an interesting match for Evans and Cumberland. Will need elite rim protection for our bigs
 
I should also add that Houston has been running out a lineup with 3 6'1 guards (Robinson, gray and Corey Davis).

Thats going to be an interesting match for Evans and Cumberland. Will need elite rim protection for our bigs

I'm sure they'll just have the little guys taking a running dive in front of Cumberland as he drives and it'll be a charge everytime. Smh.
 
Houston at home against USF today. I think I'll take the +21. Might be a lookahead spot for Houston.
 
Scouting Houston:
Record:15-4
RPI: 48
Kenpom: 38
KP Off rank: 52
KP Def Rank: 39
Best wins: #47 Arkansas 91-65, #58 Providence 70-59, #20 Wichita State 73-59
Worst Losses: #263 Drexel (Neutral), #148 @Tulane

Offense:
Houston actually regressed a little bit offensively from last year, but they've made such huge strides defensively that it hasn't mattered. Like has been the norm the past few years, Houstons offense runs through Rob Gray, Who is being used on a whopping 29% of Houston's possessions. Gray leads the team with 19ppg but Houston is also getting help from standout juco guard Corey Davis Jr, who is chipping in 12 a game and can really shoot the ball from distance. Houston only has 4 guys who shoot from distance, but those 4 guys can really really shoot it well, with all 4 hovering around 37% or higher. One interesting thing is that none of their shooters are over 6'3, so will need to just make sure everything is contested. Houston's offense is very guard oriented however their bigs are much improved in offensive rebounding and usually do their scoring damage on put backs and second chance points. They pull in 34.4% of their misses which is good for 39Th in the country. UC will need to battle this on the boards. And it won't be easy, Houston really crashes the glass.

Defense:
Normally when you think Houston the past few years, you think Offense. But Houston as really turned into a defense first team and ranked #39 in defensive efficiency. They protect the rim at a pretty elite level and at the same time, really hound your perimeter players. They do seem to be more foul prone, so attacking them off the dribble is going to crucial for UC. Individually, Houston's perimeter core grades out as average defenders but where they shine is on the interior where Brady, Davis, Zanna, & White All grade out as good to excellent defenders. Pulling them away from the paint is going to go a long way in scoring against Houston.


Summary
Houston looks really formidable at home. On the road however they have struggled to win. WSU, LSU & Tulane have all handled them losses away from home. In fact their best win away from home was against a struggling Saint Louis team who is #147 in KP. If UC can frustrate their perimeter players and keep Gray out of the lane, we should walk away with a 10 point victory. But no doubt, this is the best team we have faced since Florida and if we come out slow, they have the firepower to punish us. However UC plays very different at home and I expect a pretty lively crowd and a top 50 bearcat win.

73-62 UC

As good as we are at drawing fouls, an undisciplined yet aggressive defense should be easy for us to exploit. Gotta knock down our FTs. As far as their offense, we've done pretty good at shutting down teams main scorer, if we can keep gray uncomfortable, we should win fairly easily.
 
Rob Gray is 22-60 from the floor against UC in his career, including 2-21 from 3-point range. Of course, the guys who mostly guarded him are no longer here, but if we can keep that sort of lid on him we should be fine.
 
Rob Gray is 22-60 from the floor against UC in his career, including 2-21 from 3-point range. Of course, the guys who mostly guarded him are no longer here, but if we can keep that sort of lid on him we should be fine.

Well our D is better than its ever been while playing him, so no reason to think we shouldn't be able to. That's an impressive stat though, he's really struggled against us
 
Well our D is better than its ever been while playing him, so no reason to think we shouldn't be able to. That's an impressive stat though, he's really struggled against us

Not worried about this game since we are home but going there in a few weeks will be a different story
 
Galen Robinson hit a shot clock buzzer beater 3 with 3 seconds left that allowed Houston to cover.
 
Rob Gray is 22-60 from the floor against UC in his career, including 2-21 from 3-point range. Of course, the guys who mostly guarded him are no longer here, but if we can keep that sort of lid on him we should be fine.

Ha Trevon blueitt was averaging 2.5ppg through 2 games and then proceeded to drop 40 on us.

Gray has more weapons around him who can score, he did almost nothing tonight and they still won by 20
 
Here is kelvin sampson after their USF win talking UC.

He calls Gary Clark the best player in our league and talks about him for 2 min or so starting around the 4:15 mark

https://youtu.be/fNYBhIT83WM

That's the kind of thing that makes me think Clark is going to play in the NBA. Kelvin Sampson has been around some big time players in college and has coached in the NBA. He knows how valuable a guy like Clark can be for a team.
 
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