Oregon State Basketball must limit Houston’s rebounding opportunities

1. Few teams are as deadly on the glass as Houston

Houston’s team identity can be traced to two key areas: defense and rebounding.  The latter has been critically important to the Cougars, obviously throughout the season, but also during the NCAA Tournament.

The Cougars currently sit sixth in rebounding margin at plus-9.3, and have particularly been a force on the offensive end, hauling down a third-best 14.3 offensive caroms per game – which, in turn, has produced 40.9 total rebounds per game, which ranks fifth in the nation.  Those marks have held true throughout the NCAA Tournament, where Houston has outrebounded Cleveland State, Rutgers, and Syracuse by a total margin of 117-84 boards.

That amount is also substantial by way of offensive rebounds, where the Cougars own a 43-20 differential – and that has obviously created extra possessions and second-chance opportunities for Houston.  Against Cleveland State and Rutgers, second-chance points were crucial for the Cougars, who owned a combined 33-7 mark over both teams.  Meanwhile, despite bringing down 11 offensive boards against Syracuse, Houston was actually outscored by the Orange, 5-3, in that category.

To state the obvious: the Cougars are an absolute force on the glass, particularly offensively – per KenPom, they are the second-best team in offensive rebounding percentage at 39.5%, just behind North Carolina.  That is greatly concerning for an Oregon State squad that has struggled to prevent teams from earning extra opportunities, including in the NCAA Tournament.

For the season, the Beavers have fared decently at limiting rebounds, allowing 9.6 offensive boards per game – but they do surrender one on 29.3% of opponents’ attempts, which is worse than the Div. I average.  To add to that, Oregon State has been outrebounded offensively in all three NCAA Tournament games thus far, trailing Tennessee, Oklahoma State, and Loyola Chicago by a combined margin of 39-29.

But it has not been all bad, considering the Beavers have outrebounded those teams, overall, by a glaring 127-102 difference.  But second-chance points have not been a key area for Oregon State, considering Loyola Chicago and Tennessee both outscored the Beavers there, whereas Oklahoma State matched their output.

The Beavers have largely been able to be effective on the glass due to their ability to outmatch opponents athletically.  Roman Silva, Warith Alatishe, and Ethan Thompson have all had double-digit rebounding performances in the tournament – but all three will have their hands full with Justin Gorham and Quentin Grimes, both of whom are averaging over 6.0 boards per game.

Considering Houston’s dominance on the boards, it may be nearly impossible for Oregon State to actually outrebound the Cougars – but the Beavers must narrow the gap if they hope to have a shot at pulling off the upset.  Limiting the number of extra opportunities that Houston can receive is key.