Cougars stave off Rams for season-defining win
His blue top shirt button loose, minus the tie from the customary toss on the bench midway through the second half, Kelvin Sampson sounded like a financial advisor instead of University of Houston men’s basketball coach.
Make an “investment,” Sampson said, and the result is a gritty 82-77 nonconference victory over Rhode Island on Saturday at Hofheinz Pavilion.
“When you go through the motions and win there’s not any euphoria or sense of accomplishment because you haven’t invested,” Sampson said. “We invested tonight.”
UH (7-2) picked up its signature win of the season against Rhode Island (6-4), which lost to top-ranked Duke by 10 points and just two weeks ago was ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press poll. Dynamic duo
Rob Gray had a seasonhigh 30 points, and Danrad “Chicken” Knowles added 25 points.
On Thursday, Sampson told Knowles that the game plan was to “go to him” offensively against Rhode Island.
Sampson also made it known, come crunch time in a close game, that Gray and Knowles were to have the ball. The duo responded with a combined 31 secondhalf points and shot 14-of-27 overall.
UH shot 56.5 percent in the second half.
“In close games, it’s not a democracy,” Sampson said. “You don’t throw the ball around and whoever gets it shoots it.”
For Gray, it was his sixth game this season with at least 20 points and one point shy of a career high. Knowles, meanwhile, sparked a comeback from a nine-point deficit in the first half and mixed a handful of two-handed dunks in his highest-scoring game since last season.
“I’m seeing a lot of improvement, but I still have a lot to do,” Knowles said. “I always have something to work on.”
Gray and Knowles combined to go 25-of-28 from the free-throw line, making all 10 attempts in the final four minutes. The rest of the team attempted three free throws. Uncanny at the line
Gray gave the Cougars their first lead at 48-46 on a 3-pointer with 15:38 remaining in the game. Later, Damyean Dotson (12 points) hit back-to-back 3s and Gray added a jumper for a 67-62 lead.
Rhode Island stormed back to take a 68-67 lead, but the Cougars made six straight free throws. Kuran Iverson made an inside shot, was fouled and missed the ensuing free throw. Galen Robinson followed with a miss runner in the lane, grabbed the rebound and passed to an open Armoni Brooks for a 3-pointer to push the lead to 76-70.
The Rams’ E.C. Matthews had 31 points, including six 3-pointers. He came into the game averaging 13.7 points. Leading scorer Hass an Martin missed the game with a quad injury.
UH played without forward Devin Davis, who had surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right ring finger. Davis is expected to miss 10 to 14 days, Sampson said.