No. 5 Houston is searching for its sixth straight win on Saturday, but No. 8 Iowa State comes to town with a four-game win streak of its own.
Perhaps the Cougars (22-4, 14-1) wish this showdown could be on the road. They’re coming off an 80-65 victory Tuesday at Arizona State, which set a Big 12 record with their 12th consecutive road win.
“It’s an unbelievable accomplishment,” said Houston coach Kelvin Sampson. “Being 14-1, is awesome but that’s something that people will remember this program for. To be able to do that, you’ve got to have tough kids, talented kids, mentally tough kids. You think about all the places that we’ve played, how many great programs there are in the Big 12. To win 12 consecutive, it’s hard to win one. It’s hard to win two. But to win 12, I’m just very thankful for the staff I have and the players.”
Houston again has emerged as the dominant force in the Big 12. The Cougars have beaten BYU, Kansas State and Utah by at least 30 points while building a two-game lead in the conference race. Houston has been the best defensive team in college basketball this season, holding opponents to a national low of 57.6 points per game. Houston also boasts the third-highest average scoring margin in the country at 17.8 points per game.
LJ Cryer leads Houston in scoring with 14.5 points per game, making 40.8 percent of his 3-point attempts. J’Wan Roberts (11.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg) serves as the Cougars’ leading rebounder and second-leading scorer while Milos Uzan leads the team with 4.9 assists while also adding 10.3 points per game.
Iowa State (21-5, 11-4) enters having won each of its last four games by double digits. The Cyclones extended their winning streak with a 79-65 win over Colorado on Tuesday, led by 13 points each from Milan Momcilovic and Dishon Jackson. Iowa State features one of the most balanced attacks in the country. The Cyclones rely on an eight-man rotation that includes five players scoring in double figures.
“When you play eight guys in the rotation the way we do, the standard is that all eight of those guys are gonna be ready to go,” said Iowa State coach TJ Otzelberger. “That’s been a consistent theme, a lot of guys have contributed. We haven’t had as many of those games where one guy has gaudy numbers and then a bunch of guys are under 10 points. To see that balance is great; it’s whatever the right play is and whatever the right opportunity is.”
Curtis Jones doesn’t start, but he leads the way with 17.2 points per game. Keshon Gilbert contributes 14.1 points per game while Joshua Jefferson leads the team with 7.9 rebounds per game in addition to averaging 12.8 points.
–Field Level Media
