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Houston at UCF: 2021-22 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

By Holden Walter-Warner

Dec 22, 2021; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars guard Kyler Edwards (11) is assisted off the court by teammates after an apparent injury during the second half against the Texas State Bobcats at Fertitta Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 22, 2021; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars guard Kyler Edwards (11) is assisted off the court by teammates after an apparent injury during the second half against the Texas State Bobcats at Fertitta Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Houston Cougars appear poised to run away with the AAC this season, but the UCF Knights could give them a scare.

TV Schedule: Saturday, January 29, 8:00 pm ET on ESPN2

Arena: Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida

Can anybody stop the Houston Cougars on its quest for an AAC title? Cincinnati, Memphis, and Wichita State can’t touch them in the standings. Even a slew of injuries hasn’t slowed down Kelvin Sampson’s team.

Houston is the last undefeated team left in the conference. Some of the results have been close – the Cougars only beat Tulsa on the road by two points. The last two, however, have not been: a 19-point win over USF and a 43-point drubbing of East Carolina.

Houston has primarily been getting it done on the defensive side, such as when they held the Pirates to 36 points. They’ve only surrendered more than 70 points twice all season. The team is averaging 56.6 points allowed and 8.9 steals per game.

Kyler Edwards has been forced to step up as the team’s best player considering the multitude of injuries. He’s averaging 14.4 points per game but has been on a tear in the last three games, averaging 25.7 points per game over the stretch. He has hit at least 46 percent of his threes in each of those three games.

UCF has been a middle-of-the-pack team in the AAC this season. They are straight down the center, 4-4 in conference play. Their most impressive win might’ve been in the non-conference, when they beat Miami on the road before the Hurricanes showed how dangerous they were. The Knights have also beaten Memphis, but they are responsible for the lone conference wins for both Wichita State and USF.

One of the areas the Knights struggle with the most is rebounding. The team is averaging only 34.9 rebounds per game, not even ranking in the top 250 programs of the country.

UCF’s best shot at winning this game is hitting a bunch of three-pointers and they have the shooters to do so. But Houston has the kind of defense that could suffocate the Knights from the perimeter, limiting those opportunities.

The Knights just don’t have the same level of individual talent and coaching as Houston does. Even if UCF can keep up for a while, Houston is more battle-tested in almost every way.

The biggest fear for Houston might be that this is a look-ahead situation. While UCF is no slouch, this game starts the hardest portion of their conference schedule, as it is followed by road games at Cincinnati and SMU and a home game against Memphis (with a home game against Tulane also in that stretch). But Sampson doesn’t allow his teams to focus that long-term, so it shouldn’t be an issue.

dark. Next. Boise State flying under radar

Central Florida has not defeated Houston since March 2019. The Knights haven’t defeated Houston on their home court since January 2017. While the team has the capability of scaring the Cougars a little bit, defeating Sampson’s team is too much to ask right now.

Prediction: Houston 78, UCF 65