The 2019-20 Houston Cougars are still figuring out who they are.
Phi Slama Jama they are not. Nor are they last year’s 33-4 squad that did a reasonable imitation of the program’s heyday.
But this is for certain — with one more win at the Stan Sheriff Center, the Cougars will be champions of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.
The once-dormant, now-resurgent program out of the American Athletic Conference thumped Georgia Tech 70-59 on Monday to reach the DHC title game on Christmas afternoon.
Houston reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 last March, losing to blue blood Kentucky. It was the most wins in program history and the farthest the Cougars advanced since the “Phi Slama Jama” era in 1984.
Monday represented some learning on the fly for Houston (9-3), which led the Yellow Jackets (5-6) by 11 at halftime but allowed the ACC team to get within five before putting it away.
“This team needs this. Replacing four starters, the first thing we have to establish is, who are we?” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said.
“We have so many guys in their first year with us. Every experience we get is a first experience. … Now we’re looking for someone else. Who’s going to be our free-throw guy? Who’s going to be our ball-handler? And that’s where a game like this, the mistakes we made were actually good mistakes, because that’ll help us.”
One thing the Cougars have done exceptionally well is overwhelm opponents on the glass, ranking third nationally at plus-11.6 per game. They did so again against a lengthy Yellow Jackets team, going plus-17, which was nearly their number of offensive rebounds (16).
Houston wants to rip it off the rim and run.
“That’s definitely when we’re at our best, in transition,” said 6-foot-5 sophomore guard Quentin Grimes, who went 10-for-11 in the first half to score 23 of his 26 points. He was a true freshman at Kansas last year before receiving an NCAA waiver to transfer and play right away for Sampson.
“Coach doesn’t really like running plays, and we don’t either,” Grimes said. “We like going out there and just playing how we like to play basketball; just figure things out on our own and playing instinctually. So we get rebounds, guards get rebounds, push it, and just make plays.”
That could make for a high-flying, entertaining battle against No. 21 Washington (10-2) for the DHC championship. The Huskies have the tools to get up and down, but also employ a nasty 2-3 zone defense that could slow the pace and give the Cougars some fits. Houston had some trouble with Georgia Tech’s 1-3-1 zone.
Forward Fabian White (15 points, 12 rebounds) hit a jumper to help Houston pull away once Tech’s Jose Alvarado hit two free throws to get within 56-51 with 4:23 left.
“They hit some tough shots in some key times,” Yellow Jackets coach Josh Pastner said. Moses Wright led Georgia Tech with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Boise State 85, Portland 69
Wing Derrick Alston poured in 32 points to help the Broncos (7-5) get to the consolation championship with a rout of the Pilots (8-6). The lanky, 6-foot-9 Alston shot 10-for-18 from the field and dealt six assists, while teammate Justinian Jessup added 17 on 6-for-9 shooting for the Mountain West team.
‘Iolani alumnus Hugh Hogland scored five points in seven minutes off the bench for Portland of the West Coast Conference, which will play for seventh place.
UTEP 71, Ball State 70
The Miners (9-3) were just able to protect a nine-point lead in the final four minutes as the Cardinals (6-6) nearly rallied to tie the game in the frantic final minutes.
Forward Bryson Williams led UTEP of Conference USA with 16 points and six rebounds. UTEP shot 50.9% from the field and won the rebounding battle by 16 to overcome 23 turnovers.
Luke Bumbalough hit a 3 to get Ball State within 66-64 with 40 seconds left, and the Cardinals of the Mid-American Conference played the foul game but got no closer until Kani Acree hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, the outcome already decided.
