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Houston Basketball: Keys to upsetting Arizona in Sweet 16 matchup

By Danny McCormick

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - MARCH 20: Taze Moore #4 of the Houston Cougars is lifted up by Kyler Edwards #11 after defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini 68-53 during the second round of the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 20, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - MARCH 20: Taze Moore #4 of the Houston Cougars is lifted up by Kyler Edwards #11 after defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini 68-53 during the second round of the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 20, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /
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Fabian White Jr. Houston Cougars (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
Fabian White Jr. Houston Cougars (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

2. Houston needs to crash the boards on both ends

Houston is one of the best offensive rebound teams in the country coming in at number seven and is at 128th for defensive rebounding. Kelvin Sampson and the Houston staff have to make sure they are telling their guys to bring their toughness and swarm to the glass against a big Arizona team.

The Wildcats are loaded with size up and down their roster. Their frontcourt especially is loaded with size which is a key reason they are the fourth team in America when it comes to total rebounds per game on average. Arizona’s frontcourt consists of Christian Koloko (7’1), Azuolas Tubelis (6’11), and Oumar Ballo (7’0). Their guards are bigger-sized guards as well which makes their lineup seems gigantic at times.

Houston only has one guy on the roster who is listed to be at least 6’10 in Josh Carlton. The big man in Carlton will need to make sure he stays out of foul trouble to give them some size down low in the paint. What is a positive for Houston is that TCU only had one guy who was at least 6’10 on their roster play major minutes against Arizona and they were able to compete on the glass. TCU was able to out-rebound Arizona 20–14 on the offensive end, and compete and battle to only have two fewer defensive rebounds.

Arizona will have to make some adjustments on the offensive glass especially or it could be a very successful night for the Cougars who have been great all year on the offensive boards. Another positive for Houston is how well they were able to contain Kofi Cockburn for the most part on the boards. The star forward in Cockburn was held under his average of rebounds per game against Houston.