COUGARS DEFEAT LONGWOOD
Top seed Houston has easy start to March Madness, pounds Longwood
Mar 23, 2024, 11:12 am
COUGARS DEFEAT LONGWOOD
LJ Cryer and Damian Dunn scored 17 points each as top-seeded Houston built a quick double-digit lead and pounded 16 seed Longwood 86-46 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.
Coach Kelvin Sampson's Cougars (31-4) lived up to their reputation for smothering defense. They led 10-0 less than four minutes into the game and held the Lancers (21-14) to 16 points on 26.3% shooting in the first half.
“I thought our kids were sharp the first half,” Sampson said. “Our defense was really good. We watched film on Longwood, winning their tournament. ... We had a lot of respect for them, and we played accordingly.”
Emanuel Sharp added 13 points and Jamal Shead finished with 11 points and nine assists for Houston, which will face Texas A&M on Sunday in the second round of the South Region.
Johnathan Massie led Longwood, the Big South Conference tournament champion, with 10 points.
“It’s really hard to simulate that level of physicality and speed and just how hard they play,” Longwood coach Griff Aldrich said, adding that he thought his team “broke” in the first half.
Houston, ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25, was coming off a 69-41 loss to Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament championship game, but the Cougars showed no lingering effects as they won their sixth straight first-round game in March Madness. They came in holding opponents to an average of 57 points per game and 38% shooting, and Longwood fell short of those totals.
Sampson said the difference after the Iowa State loss was the Cougars' ability to get rest. Houston is dealing with injuries that have cut into its rotation, and Sampson said his team was spent by the time it faced the Cyclones.
“We came in on Monday, worked on our defense. Worked on our defense on Tuesday. And we started working on Longwood on Wednesday,” Sampson said. “We just needed to tighten some things up. I could see us slipping.”
Houston was aggressive and double-teamed at opportune moments, forcing 14 turnovers in the first half alone. Only three Lancers scored before halftime as the Cougars led 43-16 at the break.
“They're just aggressive,” said Longwood senior guard Walyn Napper, who averages 14.6 points but was held to eight. “They earned my respect. That's the reason they are one of the best teams in the nation.”
Houston led by 41 midway through the second half, at which point Sampson began substituting. No Houston starter played more than 29 minutes.
“We don’t really look at favorites or the seeding,” Shead said. “They’re a good team, and they were here for a reason. So we looked at it like another game where we have to have the right approach or we could have lost.”
BIG PICTURE
Longwood: The Lancers didn't have the talent or athleticism to get good looks at the basket against Houston. They shot 34.1% overall and 23.1% from 3-point range.
Houston: The Cougars' defense turned this one into an early blowout. Houston also shot 58.5%, including 11 of 23 (47.8%) from beyond the arc.
Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has a strained muscle at the top of his right hand, a diagnosis that instills optimism he won’t have a prolonged stay on the injured list.
The three-time All-Star went on the 10-day injured list Monday, retroactive to Saturday, and returned to Houston for an MRI that revealed the muscle strain.
“We look at it as good news,” Astros manager Joe Espada said before their Wednesday afternoon game with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Espada expressed hope that Alvarez wouldn’t have to stay on the injured list longer than the required 10 days. He also said the hand issue may have played a role in Alvarez’s slow start.
Alvarez, 27, is hitting .210 with a .306 on-base percentage, three homers and 18 RBIs in 29 games this season. He batted .308 with a .392 on-base percentage, 35 homers and 86 RBIs in 147 games last year while ranking ninth in the AL Most Valuable Player balloting.
He has posted an OPS of at least .959 and has finished 13th or higher in the MVP voting each of the last three seasons.
“Once he heals, once he gets back, I think we’ll see a more aggressive at bat and be not as cautious,” Espada said. “I think it had something to do with it, yes.”
His potential return could go a long way toward boosting an Astros lineup that hasn’t been as productive as usual this season. The Astros entered Wednesday’s action ranked 21st in the majors in runs (136) and 23rd in OPS (.676). Houston has ranked 11th or better in both those categories each of the last four seasons.