Cougars seek undefeated record at home
TSU’s H&PE Arena a welcome site as UH feeds off crowd
It might only be a one-year rental, but the University of Houston has found things to be cozy at H&PE Arena.
So much so that the Cougars have yet to lose at their home away from home.
“We just turn left, turn right and we’re right here,” guard Rob Gray said of playing a few blocks from campus at Texas Southern. “It’s really working out for us.”
Entering Sunday’s regularseason finale against Connecticut, the Cougars are 14-0 at H&PE Arena. One more win would match the best home record since 1983-84 in the final season of Phi Slama Jama.
The Cougars have gone unbeaten at home just six times in their 49-year history.
“We really embrace protecting our home floor,” guard Armoni Brooks said.
Even though it technically doesn’t belong to UH. The Cougars reached an agreement with TSU to play home games at H&PE Arena this season while construction is underway on the $60 million Fertitta Center.
“I told our guys this year we would be a little bit like orphans,” coach Kelvin Sampson said. “But I applaud our kids. It hasn’t been easy.”
Before the season, Sampson told his players that not playing on campus would not be an excuse. There would be no complaints.
“I kept telling our guys there’s a tradeoff,” Sampson said. “We’re going through this to have an unbelievable, one of the most beautiful basketball facilities around next year. We’ll go through this to get that.” Conference standard
A win Sunday would also give UH the only perfect home record in the American Athletic Conference, which began the season with three schools — none of them Houston — owning some of the longest home winning streaks in the nation.
Cincinnati, like UH playing off-campus this season, had a nation-best 39-game win streak end. SMU had its streak snapped at 33. Wichita State won 27 in a row before losing.
Houston (23-6, 13-4 AAC) is one of seven schools nationally with unbeaten home records this season, joining Montana (Big Sky), Charleston (Colonial Athletic Association), North Carolina A&T (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference), Wagner (Northeast), South Dakota State (Summit League) and LouisianaLafayette (Sun Belt).
“It’s not easy to win the games you should win,” Sampson said. “If that would happen, everybody would be undefeated at home.”
The perfect home mark includes a big non-conference win over Arkansas and top-10 wins over Wichita State and Cincinnati. An AAC record 18 3-pointers against Tulsa was matched in a 51-point blowout of East Carolina. UH’s average margin of victory at home is 22 points.
It’s no surprise the biggest crowds of the season, both over 5,000 in the 8,100-seat arena, were for ranked opponents Wichita State and Cincinnati. But unlike the Wichita State game, Sampson said there was one major difference for Cincinnati: “They came to see us.”
“You could tell how much that impacted the game,” Gray said of the crowd of 5,363 at the Feb. 15 game. “That’s one of the things we are pushing to have on a regular basis. Any time someone comes to play UH at home, that’s not a place they want to go.”
Guard Wes VanBeck said the H&PE Arena crowd has been a difference-maker on more than a few occasions this season.
“I give a bunch of credit to our fans for giving us a great homecourt environment,” VanBeck said. “This place gets loud. That’s definitely an advantage for us, especially on the defensive end. That’s one of the things why we are such a good defensive team, because the fans give us that energy.” Seniors in spotlight
Before Sunday’s game vs. UConn (14-16, 7-10), the Cougars will honor four seniors: Gray, VanBeck, forward Devin Davis and forward Nura Zanna.
“The thing I’m trying not to think about is how quickly coaching these four seniors are coming to an end,” Sampson said. “I am sure I will be emotional.”
And largely because of the success down the road this season, the Cougars will have a new conversation piece when the Fertitta Center opens next season: an NCAA Tournament banner.