Foul trouble dooms Cougars in close loss
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — All of the University of Houston’s conference losses have been by single digits, and Saturday’s 60-59 setback against Memphis at FedExForum was no different.
UH has dropped all four conference games by a combined six points, but the No. 22 Cougars (21-7, 11-4 American Athletic Conference) maintain a half-game ahead of Cincinnati and Tulsa in the conference standings.
“You got to make winning plays,” UH coach Kelvin Sampson said. “Three times. Not once, not twice, three times, we fouled them 85 or 90 feet away from the basket. (We) didn’t even make them have to work to score, just (gave them) some free points.”
Memphis was in the bonus for almost 15 full minutes to end the game and capitalized, going 16 for 22 from the charity stripe in the narrow victory.
“We fight and claw and scrap for offensive rebounds, but when we don’t get them, we have to get back,” Sampson said. “We can’t sit there and try to steal it from them and reach. That’s not very smart. We got to play a little smarter there.”
UH did not do anything to help itself on the offensive side of the ball, either, shooting only 34.4 percent from the field and turning the ball over 14 times.
“We have come down and execute better down the stretch,” freshman guard Marcus Sasser said. “No turnovers at the end. We (need) to learn and continue to get better.”
Sasser and Caleb Mills helped keep UH within striking distance of the Tigers for much of the game and led the way once again, combining for 39 of the team’s 59 points.
Mills knocked down two free throws in UH’s secondto-last possession to tie the game and had the ball in his hands for the game’s final shot. Guarded by Memphis 6-9 forward Precious Achiuwa, Mills’ attempt was off the mark.
“I was trying to go to the rack to get in the bonus (but the spacing wasn’t there) and that’s the shot I got,” said Mills, who had a gamehigh 21 points. “It was a good shot. I just missed.”
Sasser, who finished with 18 points and six rebounds, also came up big for the Cougars, hitting the goahead 3-pointer in the second half that gave the team a lead it almost carried back to Houston.
“It means everything to see (Sasser) doing what he is doing,” Mills said. “It’s a good feeling because we work hard for what we get. Sometimes you won’t always get what you want, but we just take it as a loss and move on.”
Aside from fouling, Sampson pointed to defense as one of the Cougars’ main problems.
“They shot 30 percent from the floor,” he said. “We outrebounded them 43-34. I don’t have any problem with the way we played defense. Precious is a tough matchup. I thought we guarded them really well.”
Sampson said it came down to a simple make-ormiss game.
“We had the opportunity to make some big shots,” Sampson said. “Big shots, and that’s the difference between winning and losing. We had our opportunities.”
All the Cougars’ losses have two things in common. They came down to the final shot, and they have all been on the road.
“We’re not a great team,” Sampson said. “We never have been. The team that we had last year was really, really good. This team is young. They fought the fight, (but) we have some guys that need to play better, especially when we go on the road.”