Houston Cougars
American (31-3, 16-2)
Most expected Houston to have a good team and make the NCAA Tournament. Few expected them to go 31-3 and be in the top ten for a good portion of the season. With a strong defense and plenty of quality depth, this is a Cougars squad that can make a very nice run in the NCAA Tournament.
Big Wins: 12/12 LSU (82-76), 2/7 at UCF (77-68), 3/9 at Cincinnati (85-69)
Bad Losses: 1/9 at Temple (69-73), 3/2 UCF (64-69)
Coach: Kelvin Sampson
Why They Can Surprise:
Houston allows just 61.6 points per game, which ranks tenth in the nation. They are also second in field-goal percentage defense with the opposition shooting just 37.4 percent from the floor. Defense like that wins a lot of games. Houston has some very good scorers too, most notably Corey Davis and Armoni Brooks. Davis, a 6-1 senior, leads the way with 16.6 points per game. Brooks adds 13.6 per game and is a prolific three-point shooter. Galen Robinson is at least a threat to shoot the long ball, but the four year starting point guard does so much more than that. He dishes out 4.8 assists per game and spearheads the defensive effort on the perimeter.
Why They Can Disappoint:
Outside of Davis, Brooks and Robinson, Coach Kelvin Sampson has not found much consistency. He does have options though. Dejon Jarreau and Nate Hinton have been good perimeter scorers off the bench and Breaon Brady, Fabian White, Cedrick Alley and Brison Gresham add plenty of options in the frontcourt. It would be ideal if Houston had a consistent scorer in the frontcourt, but that group can certainly rebound and play very good defense.
Probable Starters:
Galen Robinson, Senior, Guard, 8.1 ppg, 4.8 apg
Armoni Brooks, Junior, Guard, 13.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg
Corey Davis, Senior, Guard, 16.6 ppg, 2.7 apg
Fabian White, Sophomore, Forward, 6.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg
Breaon Brady, Senior, Forward, 6.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg
Key Role Players:
Cedrick Alley, Freshman, Guard, 5.0 ppg
Brison Gresham, Sophomore, Forward, 3.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.3 bpg
Chris Harris, Junior, Center, 2.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg
Dejon Jarreau, Sophomore, Guard, 8.9 ppg, 3.4 apg
Nate Hinton, Freshman, Guard, 7.6 ppg, 1.2 apg, 4.4 rpg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 76.4 (82nd in nation, 2nd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 61.6 (10, 1)
Field-Goal Percentage: 45.1 (146, 4)
Field-Goal Defense: 37.4 (2, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 9.4 (41, 1)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 36.4 (84, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 71.1 (165, 5)
Rebound Margin: 7.9 (8, 1)
Assists Per Game: 15.1 (53, 2)
Turnovers Per Game: 11.6 (55, 4)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
| 2018 | NCAA | Round of 64 win over San Diego State |
| 2018 | NCAA | Round of 32 loss to Michigan |
| 2017 | NIT | First Round loss to Akron |
| 2016 | NIT | First Round loss to Georgia Tech |
| 2013 | CBI | First Round win over Texas |
| 2013 | CBI | Quarterfinal loss to George Mason |
| 2010 | NCAA | Round of 64 loss to Maryland |
| 2009 | CBI | First Round loss to Oregon State |
| 2008 | CBI | First Round win over Nevada |
| 2008 | CBI | Second Round win over Valparaiso |
| 2008 | CBI | Semifinal loss to Tulsa |
| 2006 | NIT | First Round win over BYU |
| 2006 | NIT | Second Round loss to Missouri State |
| 2005 | NIT | Opening Round loss to Wichita State |
*all team stats through 3/10
