Shocker of a victory? Not so fast
Coogs entered game with an ax to grind, defense to intensify
In the second half, with the University of Houston in control, guard Corey Davis Jr. stomped his foot on the court and threw his fist in the air after a stop.
“We had to get on (their shooters) and make everything they did uncomfortable,” Davis said.
On a day the Cougars marked the 50th anniversary of the Game of the Century, they offered a glimpse of the future with their biggest regular-season win in 22 years. Behind 24 points from Rob Gray and a smothering defense, UH upset seventh-ranked Wichita State 73-59 on Saturday before a crowd of 5,708 at H&PE Arena.
Wichita State led for all of 92 seconds, as UH built as much as a 17-point lead in the second half. The game was a reversal from the first meeting Jan. 4, when the Shockers made 10 3-pointers in the first half and led by 32 points in a 81-63 blowout.
“We went up to Wichita State and felt like we embarrassed the university and this program,” Gray said. “It was on our minds to put together as good a defensive effort as possible. We woke up this morning ready to come compete.”
Early bird gets the win
The alarm clock went off at 5:30 a.m. By 6:15, the Cougars were in the gym, nearly five hours before tipoff. Coach Kelvin Sampson said the early wakeup was to finalize a game plan to defend the Shockers and take away the 3-point shot, particularly from leading scorer Landry Shamet, who had 18 points in the first meeting. With Davis mostly glued to him, Shamet was scoreless in the first half and finished with seven points on 2-of-10 shooting. Wichita State shot a season-low 32.8 percent, went 4-of-20 on 3-pointers and committed 18 turnovers.
“It wasn’t that long ago that we played them,” Sampson said. “We had some fresh ideas about adjustments we wanted to make and how we were going to guard them.”
Asked the difference in the rematch, Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said: “Their defense. They were very physical. There was very little openings for us today with our shooters.”
The victory was the first for UH over a top-10 opponent since beating No. 3 Memphis 69-67 on Jan. 6, 1996, at Hofheinz Pavilion.
As the Cougars delivered the signature win under Sampson, in his fourth season, the school marked the anniversary of one of its greatest triumphs — the 7169 win over top-ranked UCLA in the Astrodome. Several members of the 1968 team, including Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes, were presented a framed black-and-white photo from the historic game.
Five decades later, the Cougars are looking to regain some of the past glory. Entering the week, UH (15-4, 5-2 American Athletic Conference) was listed anywhere from a No. 9 to 11 seed in the latest NCAA Tournament projections and should get an RPI boost from knocking off the Shockers (15-4, 5-2). UH has not qualified for the Tournament since 2010.
“Whenever we leave here, we are going to be remembered or forgotten,” Gray said. “We just want to hang a (NCAA) banner here.”
Gray, the AAC’s leading scorer, did his part by going 10-of-21 from the floor and squashing a couple of attempts by the Shockers to climb back into the game. Wichita State closed within four points late in the first half, only to have Gray sink a 3-pointer. Another long-distance basket by Armoni Brooks allowed the Cougars to take a 35-26 halftime lead.
Wichita State went on an 8-0 run early in the second half — aided by back-to-back 3s from Shamet and Markis McDuffle and a dunk by Rashard Kelly — to close within 42-36 with 15:56 remaining.
Gray responded with seven consecutive points, part of a 12-4 run, and Brooks hit a corner 3 to give the Cougars their biggest lead of the game at 65-48. With less than four minutes remaining, Gray stole the ball near midcourt and finished off a dunk, flexing his arms to the crowd as he ran down court.
A signature victory
Wichita State has lost consecutive conference games for the first time since 2013 as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. For UH, it was a rebound from an 81-72 loss at Tulane on Wednesday, a trip that encountered travel delays due to icy weather and prevented the Cougars from arriving in New Orleans until a few hours before tipoff.
“We believed we were going to win this game,” Sampson said. “Our guys kept hearing that Wichita State lost (to SMU) and they were going to come in here mad. But what about us? We lost, too.”
Corey Davis Jr. had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Cougars, and Devin Davis added 12 points and seven rebounds.
After the game, a former team manager from Sampson’s first season at UH told him, “Coach, we’ve come a long way.”
“That was the first time I had really thought about it,” Sampson said of the 13-19 mark in 201415.
Then Sampson acknowledged Saturday’s upset was a signature win for the program.
“It is, but I think there are bigger and better wins down the road for us,” he said.