6 IN A ROW!

No. 1 Houston Cougars secure 6th straight victory, outclass Cincinnati

Houston Cougars Kelvin Sampson
Houston beats Cincinnati, 67-59. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

L.J. Cryer scored 22 points, J’Wan Roberts added 15 and top-ranked Houston won its sixth straight game by beating Cincinnati 67-59 on Tuesday night.

One day after ascending to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the first time this season, the Cougars (25-3, 12-3 Big 12) extended their conference lead to 1 1/2 games over Iowa State.

“We’ve got a chance,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “That’s all it is — we’ve got a chance to win the Big 12. That’s our goal. We’d like to win the Big 12 because we have a chance.”

The Cougars have won 21 consecutive home games, the longest active streak in the nation.

Cryer had 15 points in the first half and Houston led 26-17 at the break. He finished 7 of 15 from the field and was 4 for 10 on 3-pointers.

Emanuel Sharp scored 11 and Jamal Shead had nine points and 11 assists for the Cougars, who shot 39% from the floor and went 18 of 27 at the free-throw line.

“L.J. had a really good night,” said Shead, who shot 2 for 11. “I tried to find him a lot. … My shot’s not falling, but I’m not the offense. We have four other guys out there, so just trying to get them involved and be the best I can on defense.”

Viktor Lakhin and Simas Lukosius each scored 11 points for Cincinnati (16-12, 5-10), which has lost five of six. The Bearcats shot 40% and went 5 of 19 on 3s. They also committed 19 turnovers.

“I think our guys can really compete against anybody,” coach Wes Miller said. “I believe they can compete with Houston’s team. I think they’ve shown that in the two games (this season), but we've got to get a little better to get over the hump and win the game.”

Leading 30-21 early in the second half, Houston went on an 8-0 run capped by consecutive 3s from Sharp with 17 1/2 minutes remaining to open a 17-point lead.

After trailing 59-46 with 2:47 left, Cincinnati used an 8-1 spurt to close within six on a layup by Dan Skillings Jr. with 1:26 to go. Cryer made two free throws with 1:12 remaining, and the Bearcats got no closer than six the rest of the way.

“Win the game,” Sampson said. “This is not a funeral. We are 25-3 and 12-3. This time of year, the last thing you do is evaluate.”

BIG PICTURE

Cincinnati: The Bearcats dropped to 3-8 in Quad 1 games and 4-6 on the road this season. … The 17 first-half points were a season low for any half.

Houston: The Cougars improved to 14-3 in Quad 1 and 2 games. … Houston won its 11th straight over Cincinnati. … It was the 11th time this season the Cougars held an opponent under 20 points in a half.

UP NEXT

Cincinnati: Will host Kansas State on Saturday.

Houston: Plays at Oklahoma on Saturday.

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The Rockets are off to a 16-8 start to the season. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

There was a conversation Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell had during training camp, the topic being all the teams that were generating the most preseason buzz in the Eastern Conference. Boston was coming off an NBA championship. New York got Karl-Anthony Towns. Philadelphia added Paul George.

The Cavs? Not a big topic in early October. And Mitchell fully understood why.

“What have we done?” Mitchell asked. “They don't talk about us. That's fine. We'll just hold ourselves to our standard.”

That approach seems to be working.

For the first time in 36 seasons — yes, even before the LeBron James eras in Cleveland — the Cavaliers are atop the NBA at the 25-game mark. They're 21-4, having come back to earth a bit following a 15-0 start but still better than anyone in the league at this point.

“We've kept our standards pretty high,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “And we keep it going.”

The Cavs are just one of the surprise stories that have emerged as the season nears the one-third-done mark. Orlando — the only team still unbeaten at home — is off to its best start in 16 years at 17-9 and having done most of that without All-Star forward Paolo Banchero. And Houston is 16-8, behind only the Cavs, Boston, Oklahoma City and Memphis so far in the race for the league's best record.

Cleveland was a playoff team a year ago, as was Orlando. And the Rockets planted seeds for improvement last year as well; an 11-game winning streak late in the season fueled a push where they finished 41-41 in a major step forward after a few years of rebuilding.

“We kind of set that foundation last year to compete with everybody,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Obviously, we had some ups and downs with winning and losing streaks at times, but to finish the season the way we did, getting to .500, 11-game winning streak and some close losses against high-level playoff teams, I think we kind of proved that to ourselves last year that that's who we're going to be.”

A sign of the respect the Rockets are getting: Oddsmakers at BetMGM Scorebook have made them a favorite in 17 of 24 games so far this season, after favoring them only 30 times in 82 games last season.

“Based on coaches, players, GMs, people that we all know what they're saying, it seems like everybody else is taking notice as well,” Udoka said.

They're taking notice of Orlando as well. The Magic lost their best player and haven't skipped a beat.

Banchero's injury after five games figured to doom Orlando for a while, and the Magic went 0-4 immediately after he tore his oblique. Entering Tuesday, they're 14-3 since — and now have to regroup yet again. Franz Wagner stepped into the best-player-on-team role when Banchero got hurt, and now Wagner is going to miss several weeks with the exact same injury.

Ask Magic coach Jamahl Mosley how the team has persevered, and he'll quickly credit everyone but himself. Around the league, it's Mosley getting a ton of the credit — and rightly so — for what Orlando is doing.

“I think that has to do a lot with Mose. ... I have known him a long time,” Phoenix guard Bradley Beal said. “A huge fan of his and what he is doing. It is a testament to him and the way they’ve built this team.”

The Magic know better than most how good Cleveland is, and vice versa. The teams went seven games in an Eastern Conference first-round series last spring, the Cavs winning the finale at home to advance to Round 2.

Atkinson was brought in by Cleveland to try and turn good into great. The job isn't anywhere near finished — nobody is raising any banners for “best record after 25 games” — but Atkinson realized fairly early that this Cavs team has serious potential.

“We’re so caught up in like the process of improve, improve, improve each game, improve each practice," Atkinson said. “That’s kind of my philosophy. But then you hit 10-0, and obviously the media starts talking and all that, and you’re like, ‘Man, this could be something special brewing here.’”

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