Texas to battle No. 4 Houston for first time as Big 12 foes
For the first time since 2013, and for the first time with both programs as members of the Big 12 Conference, the Texas Longhorns will battle the No. 4 Houston Cougars on Monday in the Moody Center. Tip time is 8 p.m. and ESPN will televise the contest.
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The Longhorns and Cougars last met in the 2013 postseason, when Texas traveled to Houston to play UH in Hofheinz Pavilion during the first round of the 2013 College Basketball Invitational. UH earned a 73-72 victory in the C-tier postseason event.
The last regular season meeting was in 2000, with the Longhorns winning 90-80 in the Frank Erwin Center.
The all-time series? It’s tied at 32 apiece, though Texas has won seven of the last 11 meetings against the Cougars.
Making it 8-for-12 will be a tough task. Houston, who reached the 2021 Final Four, has made two Elite Eights, three Sweet Sixteens, and won four regular season conference titles under Kelvin Sampson, is one of the top programs in the country. Sitting at 18-2 with a strong 5-2 start in their debut Big 12 campaign, the Cougars have acquitted themselves well after stepping up from the mid-major American Athletic Conference.
The Cougars are on a four-game win streak with wins over Texas Tech, UCF, BYU, and Kansas State. Houston is led by LJ Cryer (15.2 ppg), Emanuel Sharp (12.2 ppg), and Jamal Shead (11.7 ppg).
Houston’s trip to Austin over two decades in the making will also mark the fifth time a top-five team has ventured into the Moody Center to battle the Longhorns. Texas lost to No. 3 Baylor on February 8, 2022, but topped both No. 2 Gonzaga and No. 3 Kansas during the 2022-23 regular season.
The Longhorns enter the contest 14-6 overall but 3-4 in Big 12 play. Consistency has been hard to find for Rodney Terry‘s team in conference play. A win at Cincinnati to open league play was followed by two losses to West Virginia and UCF. Texas then followed that up with wins over ranked Baylor and Oklahoma squads before succumbing to BYU in its most recent outing on Saturday.
The matchup versus Houston will be the fourth of six consecutive games versus ranked opponents for the Longhorns, with the No. 4 Cougars entering Monday’s contest with the highest ranking among those six teams.
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A win over Houston would go a long way toward bolstering the Longhorns’ postseason resume. Houston is currently No. 1 in NET, the primary sorting tool used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee when it comes time to determine the field of 68. The Monday renewal of a longtime Southwest Conference rivalry is certain to stand as a Quadrant I game for the Longhorns throughout the 2023-24 season. Texas is currently No. 41 in NET and is 3-4 in Quadrant I games. Houston is 6-2 in Quadrant I games.
Earning that Quadrant I victory will be difficult. Houston boasts the best scoring defense in the country, only surrendering 51.9 points per game. They also have the best field goal percentage defense, with opponents making only 35.1 percent of shots. That’ll make reaching the 75-point mark difficult for the Longhorns. Texas has reached 75 points in 11 of 14 wins, with victories over Texas A&M – Corpus Christi (71-55), UNC Greensboro (72-37), and Cincinnati (74-73) as exceptions.
In Longhorns’ six losses, they have failed to reach 75 points each time. One of the key players who the Longhorns will look to assist leading scorers Max Abmas, Dylan Disu, and Tyrese Hunter in reaching that plateau is Chendall Weaver.
Weaver, a 6-foot-3, transfer from UT Arlington, has played some of his best basketball in recent games. Despite just two points versus Baylor, he made a crucial play that gave Texas possession late in its victory over the Bears. He followed that up with 11 points in the Longhorn win over Oklahoma before posting a season-high 15 points versus BYU. His ability to score off of others has put additional pressure on defenses, plus he’s played with valuable hustle.
Weaver, and the rest of the Longhorn regulars, will have their work cut out for them. Houston hasn’t allowed an opponent to score over 70 points this year, let alone 75. Only four opponents have even scored 65 on the Cougars, and UH is 3-1 in those contests.
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The first of two matchups between Houston and Texas this season tips off at 8 p.m. on ESPN with Jon Sciambi, Fran Fraschilla, and Kris Budden on the call.
