INDIANAPOLIS — Tennessee basketball is back in the Elite Eight for the second straight season as they search for the first Final Four appearance in program history.
Standing in their way is a stout Houston team that’s back in the Elite Eight for the third time in the last five years. Here’s a look at the Houston Cougars ahead of the game.
More From RTI: Tennessee Basketball Opens As Underdogs In Elite Eight Against Houston
How The Cougars Got Here
Things went poorly for Houston in November this season with the Cougars starting just 4-3 with losses in three of their four matchups against power five teams. But since the start of December, Houston is 29-1 with its one loss coming in overtime against Texas Tech in late January.
The Cougars went 19-1 on their way to winning the Big 12 Regular-Season Championship and followed it up with a Big 12 Tournament Championship.
Houston made it look easy to open the NCAA Tournament, dominating 16-seed SIUE 78-40 in the first round. But the Cougars two games since have been nail biters. They got a late stop to hold on and beat Gonzaga 81-76 in the Round of 32 before scoring in the final second to defeat Purdue 62-60 in the Sweet 16.
Houston’s Strengths
There’s no shortage of them. Houston ranks third in KenPom this season, but they’re also the fifth ranked team on KenPom in the last 10 seasons. That shows you just how strong this Houston team and the top of the country is this season.
Like Tennessee, defense is Houston’s bread-and-butter. The Cougars have the nation’s top defense and they do just about everything well on that end of the court. Houston has the fourth best defensive field goal percentage in the country and rank rank in the top 25 in both three-point and two-point defense.
The Cougars’ ball pressure is menacing and they force turnovers at an incredibly high rate. Houston is a small team with its tallest players in the rotation being just 6-foot-8. But that’s a bit misleading because the Cougars’ front line has an abundance of length. Look no further than block rate, where Houston ranks fifth nationally despite a lack of size.
That length is also evident on the offensive glass where Houston rebounds 36.7% of its misses, a mark that ranks 11th nationally.
While Houston is best on the defensive end, they’re a good offensive team too and enter the matchup ranked 12th in offensive efficiency. The Cougars are lethal from three-point range. They don’t take an insane amount of triples like Kentucky but the Cougars shoot a nation’s best 39.8% from deep with three different players who are shooting over 40% from the field.
Houston is a bit like Tennessee in that its offense has been really efficient while playing at an extremely slow pace. Even with good offense, expect this to be a low scoring game.
Houston’s Weaknesses
Well there aren’t many given how historically good this Houston team has been. But there are a few areas where they have been average or worse.
The Cougars biggest weakness is their two-point offense. Houston is shooting just 48.5% from two-point range, a mark that ranks just 281 nationally. On the same note, Houston is not very good at getting to the free throw line while opponents get to the foul line against them at a decent clip.
Houston is also a bit like Tennessee in that they’re a really good offensive rebounding team but a pretty average defensive rebounding team. The Vols will have chances to steal possessions on the glass.
Standout Cougars
LJ Cryer is the lead man for Houston. The 6-foot-1 shooting guard is one of the best perimeter offensive players in the country and enters the matchup averaging 15.3 points per game. Cryer is one of three true sharpshooters for Houston with 111 made triples this season on 42% shooting from deep.
Emmanuel Sharp has the name and production of a shooter. He averages 12.6 points per game and has made 79 three-pointers at 41% clip. Point guard Milos Uzan is the third knock down shooter for the Cougars, making 61 triples this season at a 45% rate.
J’Wan Roberts and Joseph Tugler are the front court duo for Houston. Tugler doesn’t bring much offense but he’s a force on the defensive end. His two blocks per game landed him as one of the four finalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.
Roberts is more of an offensive threat, scoring 10.7 points per game to go along with a team-best 6.4 rebounds per game.
