This Saturday, Wes Miller and the Bearcats will look to bounce back in the win column when they travel to Houston, Texas to take on Kelvin Sampson and the No. 3 ranked Cougars. The Bearcats are coming off a 75-68 loss to Memphis on Sunday, while the Cougars are coming off to a 56-55 loss to Temple.
The Bearcats enter this one (14-7, 5-3 AAC), while the Cougars (18-2, 6-1 AAC) come in ranked third in the country falling their loss on Sunday, but have shown they are one of the best teams in the country to date. The last time these two teams faced off, Houston prevailed 72-59 after the Bearcats were plagued by turnovers (17-7) as the Cougars outscored the Bearcats 26-4 off turnovers, which ultimately was the difference maker.
The Bearcats were led by Mika Adams-Woods, who had arguably his best performance of the season with 19 points, on (8-11 FG). In a night where David DeJulius shot just 2-of-10 from the field for just six points, Adams-Woods stepped in and kept the Bearcats within striking range. A huge game from Adams-Woods was something the Bearcats needed vs a very talented team in Houston, as they came in to Fifth Third ranked No. 2 in the country at the time.
The Cougars were led by potential Top 10 NBA Draft pick, Jarace Walker. Walker, a 6’9″, 240 pound forward caused all types of problems for the Bearcats. Walker, finished with a game-high 21 points (8-14 FG). Walker used every bit of that 240-pound frame to get inside and attack the Bearcats defense, as the Cougars outscored the Bearcats 36-20 on points in the paint in the first matchup.
Houston, a very physical team, led by Kelvin Sampson who is arguably one of the top coaches in all of college basketball. Sampson, has completely revamped the Cougars program since taking over as head coach back in 2014.
“My level of respect for Kelvin Sampson and the job he has done at Houston it couldn’t be greater,” said Bearcats head coach Wes Miller. “They’re an opponent and we want to beat them, however my level of respect for what he has done in his career and how they do things at Houston is very high. He really values the way you defend and rebound the ball. They play with an extreme edge, and they do both of those two things at an incredible level.”
The Bearcats have six days to prepare for their match up with Houston following their 75-68 loss to Memphis. A break that comes at a great time for the Bearcats as they look to go on the road and pick up a huge quadrant one win on the road vs one of the top teams in the country. On the other hand, the Cougars have a big challenge in front of them heading into Saturday’s contest with the Bearcats, as they travel to Orlando tomorrow to take on the UCF Knights. A Knights team that just had a huge win over Memphis in double overtime last week.
“What’s important is today,” said Miller. “We have to go out to practice, get better and improve. We have an opportunity without a game this week to practice, get back to the fundamentals, some of the details you’re not able to on a consistent basis while playing multiple games a week. It is important because it is right in front of us today.”
