Houston Basketball: 3 keys for Sweet 16 Matchup against Duke Blue Devils

Three-point line

Basketball is changing and teams are now moving to shots at the rim and shots from deep. Every team has a guy who can step out and hit multiple threes and change games. Just ask Kentucky when they ran into Jack Gohlke from Oakland or anyone who has played Keisei Tominaga on a heater over the last few seasons. The easiest way to combat an aggressive defense like the Cougars is to get hot from deep. There is only one problem with that, Houston doesn’t allow much from deep and they defend the three-point line well.

Duke on the other hand does shoot the ball well from deep and takes about 40% of their total shots from outside. The Blue Devils have two guys who do the bulk of their scoring from outside and both of those players shoot well over 40% from deep and have been hot in the NCAA tournament. Duke has the shooting to stay in this game, but they are going to have to hit some tough ones because open shots against Houston are rare.

The Cougars have their fair share of guys who can hit threes as well. LJ Cryer and Emanuel Sharp are the two guys who take the most shots from deep and with a point guard like Jamal Shead the Cougars often get open looks from deep. Cryer struggled shooting the ball from deep against Texas A&M, but he can get hot from deep and change a game in a big way. Sharp had a huge game against the Aggies before he fouled out and has been playing well for the last month. The three-point line is going to be huge in this one. If Duke starts making threes, they are going to stay in the game far longer than Houston wants them to. If the Blue Devils struggle from deep, Houston will likely win in a runaway.