The Houston Cougars have continued to impress the college basketball world in 2023-24. As of right now, they sit at 21-3 overall with an 8-3 Big 12 record that is only tied with Iowa State atop the conference. The Cougs also find themselves ranked number three overall in the country.
The answer to Houston’s great season has been their defense. According to the Kenpom metrics, they have the best defense in basketball and that has gotten them to become the number one most efficient team in the country according to the metric. In non-conference play, they held 11 out of their 13 opponents to 60 points or less. This includes big wins over Dayton and their explosive offense as well as on the road in Cincinnati against Xavier, which has always been a tough place to play.
They have done similar work during their Big 12 games as well. They have held five of their conference opponents to 60 points or less and they are 4-1 throughout those games.
This defensive skill has been put in place via a team effort. Within the team, eight Houston players average at least a steal a game, and their big-time guard, Jamal Shead averages a staggering 2.1 steals a game. Shead also is top five in the conference in the category behind TCU’s Jameer Nelson Jr. and Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey.
The shot blocking for the Cougs comes from their two big forwards down low Ja’Vier Francis and Joseph Tugler. They both average over a block a game carrying the load with Houston’s 5-block average as a team.
Head coach Kelvin Sampson has kept his foot on the pedal when it comes to giving the Cougars a well-skilled defense. He spoke about it with the Houston Roundball Review in an interview some months ago.
“I think defense is the one area where you have to be comfortable coaching your way…Our defense is our defense, that is what I teach; what I believe in; but, I’m very adaptable.”
With the regular season end coming up on the Horizon, the Cougs will look to take their success from this season and put it towards a good NCAA tournament run. They have had a good history of those over Sampson’s tenure. In the past six seasons, Houston has made the Sweet Sixteen four times. Two of those four appearances include extended trips to the Elite 8 in 2022 and Final Four in 2021, this is something the program hadn’t done since 1984.
Defense builds championships and the Cougars seem to have the skills to go far in an attempt to win it all once again. However, the remainder of the season still provides them with some tough matchups. They play the Iowa State Cyclones at home as they feature a top-five defense in the country according to the Kenpom. They play very similar to the Cougs. They also play on the road in Waco against Baylor who has one of the top-notch offenses in all of college hoops shooting a 49% mark with field goals as a team. And to end the season, they face off against the Kansas Jayhawks who got the better of the Cougs in Allen Fieldhouse.
For their next game, the Cougars will play at home on Saturday against the Texas Longhorns. They escaped with a tight, four-point win the last time they played in Austin. Tip-off for the second matchup between the two teams will be at 1:00 p.m. E.T. inside of the Fertitta Center. The game will be televised on CBS.
