Sophomore guard Quentin Grimes led the Houston Cougars to a big win over the Portland Pilots on Sunday.
Cougars take big win over the Pilots to open Hawaiian Classic
Dec 23, 2019, 6:00 am
Sophomore guard Quentin Grimes led the Houston Cougars to a big win over the Portland Pilots on Sunday.
Nate Hinton
The Houston Cougars opened their Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic with an 81-56 victory over the Portland Pilots Sunday afternoon inside the Stan Sheriff Center in Hawaiian. With the win, the Cougars improve to 8-3 on the season and have won six of their last seven games.
After scoring four points on 2-for-15 (13%) shooting from the floor the past two games, sophomore guard Quentin Grimes bounced back in a big way by scoring a game-high 18 points (7-11 FG, 4-7 3PT), all coming in the second half.
It was a wire-to-wire victory for the Cougars after opening the game on a 6-0 run following a made lay-up attempt from junior forward Fabian White — who ended the game with 10 points in the win.
Congrats to @UHCougarMBK for opening the 2019 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic with a dub! #LeiUp #CBB… https://t.co/T8nORSh49d— #LeiUp (@#LeiUp) 1577054979.0
Houston had a solid offensive performance after connecting on 50% of their shots, but the Cougars' defense played the most prominent part in their win. UH held the Pilots to shoot 34.7% from the field, and a poor 29.2% from deep. Senior big man Chris Harris Jr. ended the game with a game-high three blocked shots, to go along with 13 points and five rebounds, including four on the offensive end.
In the loss, Malcolm Porter was the only player to score in double digits for the Pilots, as he led Portland in scoring with 11 points and five rebounds.
Following the win, the Cougars will continue their tour of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic to face off against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Monday night, in the Semifinals. Tip-off is slated for 6 P.M. CT.
The Houston Texans have a big challenge in store as they look to start the season with a win against the Colts this Sunday. When these two teams met in Week 2 last year, the Colts dominated the Texans, despite losing their QB Anthony Richardson to a concussion after the first quarter.
Keeping Richardson contained on Sunday will go a long way in increasing the Texans' chances of coming home with a win. The Texans defense will have their hands full containing the Colts backs and tight ends in the passing game.
Scoring touchdowns with their wide receivers could prove difficult, as the Texans allowed the second-fewest TDs (10) to the receiver position in 2023.
Limiting running back Jonathan Taylor will also be a top priority. While the Texans had an elite defense against the run last season, they struggled with Taylor in Week 18 as he almost rushed for 200 yards.
Houston's D allowed only four carries to running backs in 2023 that went for 20 or more yards. Two of which were to Taylor in the final game of the regular season.
Finally, DeMeco Ryans and company have to find a way to get pressure on the QB. They only had one QB hit and zero sacks on Richardson and Garner Minshew the first time they faced off last year.
On offense, the Texans have two big x-factors to watch for on Sunday. The offensive line that suited up to play the Colts in Week 2 last season is completely different from this year.
The o-line was ravaged with injuries to start the 2023 campaign, so we expect a big jump in productivity in the trenches this year.
Another big addition in 2024 is the presence of running back Joe Mixon. The running game only produced 2 yards per rush in Week 2 against Indy last year, so there's clearly room for improvement.
Be sure to watch the video above for our in-depth preview of Texans-Colts!
And catch Texans on Tap (a Texans podcast) live on our SportsMapTexans YouTube channel following every game this season!