6. Houston (14-3)
Two of Houston’s three losses came against teams ranked in the Top 5 nationally at the beginning of the week, with all three of those defeats being close games. However, that dates back to November and these Cougars have been on quite a streak in recent weeks. Kelvin Sampson’s squad is looking for a repeat performance from last season, when they won the Big 12 in their first year in the league; can this year’s team get that job done?
Wednesday marked a pleasant start to the week, as Houston got a 70-54 home win over West Virginia to continue that winning streak. J’Wan Roberts had 22 points, L. J. Cryer added 18 points, and the Cougars did enough on defense to win easily. They certainly had to sweat out Saturday’s action, holding on for a 69-68 road win at UCF after trailing at the half. Roberts starred with 21 points and 9 rebounds while Ja’Vier Francis had 16 points and 10 rebounds on a day where the outside shots weren’t falling.
Houston has now won ten games in a row and sits an enviable 6-0 in Big 12 play. There are certainly tougher games ahead for the Cougars, but this team has found ways to win even when they weren’t necessarily at their best this season. Earlier questions about this team’s talent and potential seem to have been answered, though we’re going to learn a lot next weekend when this team heads to Lawrence for quite the battle with Kansas.