The Cougars have two conference games left. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images.
No. 2 Kelvin Sampson
After a tumultuous week for the city of Houston and the entire state of Texas, the Houston Cougars were able to provide somewhat of a distraction to what Texans dubbed as the "snow-polcalypse".
The No. 6 ranked Cougars first game was on the road against Wichita State who had the 2nd best record in the American Athletic Conference.
This is the first time a top six ranked opponent played a game at Charles Koch Arena since 1992.
The game started off in favor of the Cougars as Wichita State couldn't get any kind of offensive momentum going. At one point Houston took a 12-0 run to go up 20-9.
Everything seemed to be going Houston's way and Tramon Mark and Marcus Sasser were the leading scorers during this run. Senior forward Fabian White Jr. made his season debut after recovering from offseason knee surgery. He made one 3-pointer and played 9 minutes, but it was good to see him back on the court.
The Shockers wouldn't give up without a fight. Wichita State made a 24-14 run of their own to cut their deficit to a one point game. The halftime score was 34-33.
The Shockers were able to ride their momentum into the second half and Tyson Etienne and Alterique Gilbert each scored 16 points to bolster Wichita State's lead.
Houston tried to retaliate which small runs of their own, but they just could not sustain any kind of offensive rhythm.
DeJeon Jarreau led the Cougars with 16 points. Quentin Grimes added 13 points and Justin Gorham 10.
In the end the Cougars were beat at their own game. Wichita State switched up their defensive strategy after halftime and played shut down D in the paint, which forced Houston to take bade shots from behind the arc.
For the first time all season, Houston's opponent out rebounded them 35-33. That combined with Houston shooting an abysmal 33% (8-24) from three all but secured Houston's inevitable defeat.
Wichita State won the game 68-65 and all three of Houston's losses have come on the road.
Houston did keep it close towards the end of the contest when Grimes hit a three to make it a one point game. But, Wichita State's stingy defense was able to prevent the Cougars from scoring the rest of the game.
Justin Gotham was ejected with less than a minute left to go in the contest after her was charged with a flagrant-2 foul. His first ejection this season.
Tyson Etienne (who the Cougars had no answer for in the second half) put the game away when he hit two consecutive free throws to secure a Wichita State victory.
This victory propelled the Shockers to first place in the AAC.
You could say the Shockers shocked the Cougars… (I'm sorry I couldn't resist).
This past week wasn't a total loss for Houston, for they had one of their most impressive wins of the season Sunday.
Cincinnati came to town riding a four game winning streak and looked to kick the Cougars while they were down. They were in for rude awakening.
The game started off in favor of the Bearcats for they made their first four field goal attempts (three of which were 3-pointers).
Houston may have stumbled out of the gate, but it took them no time at all to come back and take control of the game.
DeJon Jarreau had a steal early on that he converted into a quick bucket that shifted the momentum in favor of the Cougars.
Houston didn't look back once they took an early lead. They outscored the Bearcats 32-7 over the final 11 minutes of the first half to take a 50-26 lead at the break. DeJon Jarreau scored nine points and Tramon Mark had nine points during this first half run.
The Cougars shot 9 for 18 from the field which was much better than their previous performance and hit 13 of 13 from the free-throw line during their run. Cincinnati on the other hand was 2 of 15 from the field and did not have a field goal for the final 5 minutes of the half.
The second half was much of the same as the game turned into a contest of backups and reserves with 10 minutes left to go.
Houston trounced Cincinnati 90-42 and this was the Bearcats' worst loss since they lost to Notre Dame in 2011.
This was the second time Houston has hit or gone above the 90 point threshold. The first time they surpassed this mark was when they crushed Our Lady of the Lake 112-46
This was a statement game to say the least and Houston has now won 22 consecutive home games.
Rankings Update: Houston fell six spots from 6th to 12th in the AP Rankings Monday.
Up Next: The Cougars have two conference games left against USF and Memphis, but they did add Western Kentucky on Thursday. Baring anymore schedule changes, these will be the final tuneup games before the AAC tournament starts on March 11th.
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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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