Graduate guard LJ Cryer put up a big time 28 points to lead the way. Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson recorded his 787th career win, which moves up to 17th all-time in NCAA Division I history.
“Coach Sampson has been the standard in this league since they came in,” Iowa State head coach TJ Otzelberger said.
UH got out to the early lead and eventually was up 27-13 with five minutes to go in the first half and led comfortably at halftime, 34-22. The Cougars shot a remarkable 67% from three (6/9) and were 62% from the field in the first 20 minutes, while the Cyclones struggled mightily during this period at only 27% from the field overall with some strong Houston defense.
This all changed in the second half as Iowa State fought back and made it close late, however, Houston basketball pulled away in the end. While it may not have been UH’s best performance in the second half, it got the job done against a strong Cyclones team that will always be tough to beat, even without their top two scorers.
Houston got out to a very strong start shooting wise from junior point guard Milos Uzan and graduate guard LJ Cryer. Uzan was aggressive from the get-go and had Houston’s first bucket that set the tone offensively. The 6 ‘4 point guard then drained back-to-back threes as the Fertitta Center crowd erupted. Uzan had 10 points in the first nine minutes.
“We try to play to our guys’ strength and Milos tonight played with a swagger. He started to own his game, and our players have a ton of respect for him,” Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson said.
Right after that, it was Cryer’s turn. His run started with a tough step-back three as the shot clock was winding down. The Katy, Texas native followed that up with another step-back trey and then hit his fourth three-pointer of the first half as the Cougars went up 30-15 with just under four minutes to go. It was 11 points in 11 minutes for the Big 12’s best shooter.
Houston basketball shot lights out from beyond the arc in the first half thanks to a perfect 4/4 from Cryer and two triples from Uzan, who had 14 points through the first 20 minutes.
Cryer and Uzan combined to shoot 67%, including 8-of-12 on 3-pointers.
The Cyclones got out to a rough start offensively and didn’t find much rhythm. Iowa State had consecutive buckets at the end of the first half, but Houston basketball still led by double digits halfway through.
It all changed in the second half as the wind blew in Iowa State’s direction with an 18-3 run that cut the lead just down to one at 48-47 after a three from senior guard Nate Heise. It was the closest that the Cyclones would get in the game, but definitely made Houston earn it down the stretch.
Iowa State has three players in the top 15 of the Big 12 in steals, and that certainly played an impact in that run with three steals forced during that time period, including on consecutive possessions. Senior point guard Tamin Lipsey had back-to-back buckets followed up by a personal 6-0 run from sophomore forward Milan Momcilovic.
The Cyclones also brought the lead down to two with just under five minutes left but were not able to match Houston on offense. Iowa State put together an impressive defensive performance and forced 17 turnovers, a big feat versus a team that just doesn’t turn it over a lot. They had 16 points off turnovers, matching UH as well as 10 steals and four blocks.
“You’ve got two really good teams, it doesn’t matter who they had or didn’t have. They had a really good team, their frontline was there,” Sampson said.
Cryer ended up being the savior for the Cougars when they needed it most down the stretch and at the end. When the Cyclones cut the lead down to one with just under 10 minutes to go, it was Cryer time. There was a clear aggression from Cryer to take over the game and get this win for Houston.
It started with a couple of mid-range shots and step-back buckets. Uzan also made huge contributions with a tough layup high off the glass and a big-time step-back three in the four-minute mark that got the lead up to five at 61-56. Cryer nailed a shot and got the and-one as Houston basketball went up by seven.
“We thought L.J. is our best one-on-one player to get a good shot. He knows how to get a shot,” Sampson said.
Junior guard Emanuel Sharp started to get it going in the 2nd half, but once again came up clutch for Houston basketball and showed up when he needed to. With under a minute to go, Sharp launched a deep shot from beyond the arc and drilled the three to essentially put the game away as the lead was now at eight with 45 seconds left.
“Emanuel does seem to have a knack for doing that,” Sampson said.
What it ultimately came down to was the huge, tough shots from the Cougars offensively as Iowa State got close. Houston’s defense was not at its best and the turnovers really hurt them, but UH got it done.
“We lead the Big 12 in the fewest amount of turnovers and today we had 17. Their traps bothered us. We didn’t do a very good job of getting to our spots. But we are 15-1. Let’s not sit here and slice and dice being 15-1,” Sampson said.
at No. 9 Texas Tech (21-6, 12-4) – Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. CST
at Oklahoma State (13-14, 5-11) – Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. CST
