Red-hot Grimes carries Cougars
Guard knocks down 8 from deep on his way to career-high 33 points
On the way to a career night, University of Houston guard Quentin Grimes had 21 points by halftime Thursday. Coach Kelvin Sampson preferred to focus on another statistic.
“Zero rebounds,” Sampson said.
“I didn’t ask for his autograph at halftime or tell him how great he looked. I told him if he wanted to be a complete player, he better learn to play both ends and rebound. That’s what he did.”
In a rare late February nonconference game that had the feel of an earlyround NCAA Tournament game, Grimes delivered a career-high 33 points as the No. 12 Cougars pulled away in the second half to blow out Western Kentucky 81-57 at Fertitta Center.
UH (19-3) extended its home winning streak to 23, the fourth-longest active streak in the nation.
That the Cougars did it by beating Western Kentucky,
a projected NCAA Tournament team from Conference USA, made the win sweeter.
“We thought this game was like an NCAA Tournament game, different conference, first round, you don’t know who you are going to play, a school from anywhere,” forward Justin Gorham said. “We knew we couldn’t lose.”
Earlier in the week, Sampson said Hilltoppers center Charles Bassey, a projected first-round pick, would be “the best player on the court.”
But he wasn’t Thursday. Not with Grimes carrying the scoring load for UH in the first half. Not with Grimes hitting eight 3-pointers.
In fairness to Sampson, the 6-foot-11 Bassey entered the game as a strong candidate for national defensive player of the year.
“A monster,” according to Sampson, Bassey had all the flashy stats: second in the nation in dunks (49) and third in blocks (3.2) and rebounds (11.7) per game while averaging 18 points. But Bassey was held to a pedestrian nine points on 3-of-7 shooting Thursday with seven rebounds and two blocks.
With the Cougars often using double teams to deny the ball inside, Bassey did not take his first shot until 8:20 remained in the first half and was blocked by Fabian White Jr. He did not score his first points — on a pair of free throws — until 6:52 left before halftime.
His first field goal was a 3pointer more than 17 minutes in to help the Hilltoppers erase a 12-point deficit and trail just 39-38 at halftime.
Around lunchtime Thursday, Sampson walked into the Fertitta Center tunnel and heard head coach-inwaiting Kellen Sampson working with frontcourt players on the plan for Bassey, a combination that relied on the interior defense of White, Gorham, Reggie Chaney and Brison Gresham.
Gorham said Bassey expressed frustration at midcourt after being called for a Flagrant-1 foul in the second half.
“I thought our preparation and how we wanted to play them had to be crystal clear because of Bassey,” said Sampson, adding, “When he gets the ball, make him uncomfortable. We brought the intensity to him.”
On the other end, the Hilltoppers never made Grimes uncomfortable. He finished 11-of-21 from the field, including 8-of-16 from 3-point range. At one point, Grimes scored 18 consecutive points to help UH build a 34-24 lead.
“His confidence level is sky high right now,” Sampson said.
After the Hilltoppers (15-5) took a 40-39 lead early in the second half, sophomore guard Marcus Sasser and Grimes hit back-to-back 3s to spark a momentumshifting 18-2 run. It was DeJon Jarreau and Chaney, not Bassey, with dunks as the Cougars took a commanding 57-42 lead.
Sasser overcame foul troubles — he picked up two in the opening 90 seconds and played just five minutes in the first half — and finished with 12 points. Tramon Mark, who replaced Sasser, added 12 points off the bench.
Jarreau stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, four rebounds, four assists and five steals.
“He’s by far the most indispensable player,” Sampson said of Jarreau. “We’re not going very far without him. He is critical to this team’s success.”
Grimes eclipsed his career scoring high with his eighth 3-pointer, giving UH a 76-54 lead with 3:40 to play. His previous career high was 32 against Rice in 2019. And, yes, Grimes heeded Sampson’s advice and had six rebounds in the second half.
Western Kentucky got no closer than 14 points during the final 10 minutes.
Taveion Hollingsworth had 11 points for the Hilltoppers, who managed only 19 points and shot 30.4 percent in the second half. For the game, UH forced 20 turnovers that led to 27 points.
After being dominated on the boards in the first half, the Cougars outrebounded the Hilltoppers 21-14 in the second.
“We showed in the second half why we are a good defensive team,” Sampson said.