Cougars, Shockers battle for top spot
When University of Houston coach Kelvin Sampson looks to the opposite bench Saturday, he likely will see a mirror image.
If any team in the American Athletic Conference can understand the Cougars’ transition from a veteran team to a roster full of youth and inexperience, it’s Wichita State.
“Wichita State was us last year at this time,” Sampson said as the Cougars prepare for their biggest challenge of the season against the No. 16 Shockers at Koch Arena. “They had a bunch of new guys. They lost a lot.”
Like all good programs, Wichita State’s rebuild did not take long. After seven straight NCAA tournament appearances, the Shockers struggled to a 1-6 start in AAC play last season, got hot late in the regular season — winning 14 of the final 18 games — and made a sur
prise run to the NIT semifinals.
“They struggled in November and December,” Sampson said. “Then they got it going in January, February and made the NIT. We were the same way this year in November and December. We tried to replace those four starters. You just don’t.”
For the first time in Sampson’s six years at UH, the Cougars lack a veteran presence. UH lost four starters — Galen Robinson Jr., Corey Davis Jr. and Breaon Brady to graduation and Armoni Brooks as an early departure to the NBA Draft — from a team that won a school-record 33 games and advanced to the Sweet 16.
In their place? Eight underclassmen, among them key contributors Caleb Mills and Marcus Sasser, both freshmen, and sophomore transfer Quentin Grimes. Center Chris Harris Jr. is the lone senior.
The path is nearly identical to Wichita State, which lost just about everybody from a 25-win team in 2017-18, including NBA pick Landry Shamet, Connor Frankamp, Shaq Morris and Rashard
Kelly. After a 22-win “down season” the Shockers — who still have one of the nation’s youngest rosters with 10 underclassmen among 13 scholarship players — opened this season 15-1.
Before the rebuild season, the Shockers had nearly a decadelong run of dominance, winning at least 30 games four times and a perfect regular season in 2013 when they advanced to the Final Four.
“The thing about Wichita State, a lot of schools have teams, and every now and then they’ll come up with a good team,” Sampson said. “But you know, Wichita State just has such a great program. It’s an elite program. They take pride in it. The community takes pride in it. They have one of the best atmospheres in college basketball. They do everything the right way.”
Sampson said it was obvious “where Wichita State was headed” late last season, and he sees a similar trajectory as the Cougars find their identity. Even with a lineup that has transitioned from go-to scorers Davis and Brooks to a committee approach that emphasizes defense and rebounding, the Cougars enter the weekend tied for first place in the AAC with Wichita State and Memphis
at 3-1. UH has won 11 of its last 13 games.
UH rebounded from a disappointing 63-61 loss to Tulsa with a 71-62 win over SMU on Wednesday.
“We played with a lot more heart and desperation,” forward Fabian White Jr. said.
Wichita State is coming off just its second loss of the season, 65-63 at Temple in a game where leading scorer Erik Stevenson and sharpshooter Tyson Etienne went scoreless on a combined 0-for-15 shooting. The previous game, Wichita State narrowly escaped with a double-overtime road win against Connecticut.
UH has won the last three meetings against the Shockers.
“They are young a little like we are, too,” said guard Nate Hinton, who averages nearly a doubledouble with 12.0 points and 9.9 rebounds. “I definitely feel like it’s going to be a real tough test.”
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