Houston Cougars Basketball

Pulaski plays Blacksburg for third place on Thursday

By CODY DALTON
cody@southwesttimes.com



SALEM – The Lady Cougar basketball team’s quest to repeat as River Ridge District Tournament Champions came up short on Tuesday, when they lost to top-seeded Salem, 49-29, on the road. The Cougars now meet Blacksburg on Thursday for third place.

“Salem is great team and they played well tonight,” said Cougars coach Jason Grubb. “Our kids played hard, but we just couldn’t find the bucket enough. Shooting percentage was way down. We were 22 percent overall, 38 percent from the free throw line, and 14 percent from the three-point line. We were rusty. So tomorrow, we are going to get out, practice, and do some shooting to get ready for our next game.”

In the first half, it was a lack of shooting accuracy by both teams that made it extremely low scoring. Pulaski’s Elizabeth Thacker would score the opening basket of the game, but Salem would answer with seven consecutive points to take an early lead.

The Spartans would lead 10-6 after the low scoring first quarter.
The pace of the game was being dictated by the Cougars, who deviated from a high octane offense and went to a set offensive attack. That created many fouls and allowed free throw opportunities for Pulaski.

Those free chances would evade the Cougars though in the first half, as they were just 3-for-11 from the charity stripe. However, the Salem margin was just a manageable six points, 18-12, at halftime.

“We came out and played well in the first half,” Grubb said. “It was a little bit of a sloppy game both ways as far as scoring goes. We didn’t have a whole lot of success scoring around the rim and neither did they. At halftime, we were down by six. We felt good about that in the locker room. We weren’t celebrating, but we felt like we were in position to make a run at them."

However, the Spartans would quickly take charge of the game offensively. Bre Kawa connected on a three-pointer to open the quarter and Alexius Patterson converted on a three-point play after being fouled on a lay up attempt.

Pulaski would continue to push throughout the third quarter and pulled to within nine points after sophomore Daisy Ball created her own three point play opportunity. The Spartans still extended their advantage in the quarter though and led 34-23.

Salem would start out the fourth quarter with five out of the first six scores. All five of those scores were from different Salem players as well. While their offense was scoring, the Spartan defense was doing their job as well, as they forced 25 Cougar turnovers in the game, many of which led to scores. Pulaski also shot just 22.7 percent from the field in the game. That helped Salem advance to the Friday’s championship game with the victory.

“In the second half, we played hard, but didn’t make our shots and they had some success behind the arc, which extended our defense out a little bit,” Grubb said. “It was a very physical game. I think the physicality kept us from finishing our shots a little bit.”

Daisy Ball led the Cougars with nine points and 10 rebounds, with eight of those rebounds being offensive. Raiven Patterson and Kasey Holcomb both added five points each for Pulaski.

The Cougars now face Blacksburg High School in the third place game before opening up action in the Region IV playoffs. The Bruins were edged by Hidden Valley, 45-39, in the other district semi-final.

“All we can do is put it behind us and look forward to Blacksburg,” Grubb said. “We have a consolation game against Blacksburg on Thursday. I think we are pretty confident we can go out and get a victory against Blacksburg and get ready for a run at regionals.”

Win over Knights gives Pulaski a Region IV berth

By CODY DALTON
cody@southwesttimes.com

DUBLIN – The Lady Cougar basketball team opened defense of their River Ridge District Tournament Championship on Monday with a convincing 45-28 victory over Cave Spring. The win clinches a berth in the Region IV playoffs for Pulaski.

“Our kids were a little more relaxed than they should have been,” said Cougars coach Jason Grubb. “Cave Spring played some inspired basketball. Our kids stepped up to the challenge and were aggressive. They were aggressive offensively and defensively. We pulled out the victory.”

Pulaski (10-13, 4-6) jumped out quickly to a 13-1 lead in the first quarter. Kasey Holcomb scored five points and Raiven Patterson added four points in the run. That allowed the Cougars to garner a 16-4 lead after the first.

Cave Spring (2-20, 0-10) would climb back in the second quarter and pulled to within nine points of the Cougar lead, but Pulaski would keep their 12 point lead in tact. It was 25-13 in favor of the Cougars at halftime.

Once again, the Cougars maintained momentum in the third quarter and stretched their lead all the way to 18 points at the early part of the quarter thanks to three combined baskets by Patterson and Sydney Anderson combined. Once again, Pulaski would hold on to a 12-point lead for the third consecutive quarter.

Cave Spring would attempt to pull back in the game, but shot just 23 percent from the field in the game. That cold shooting combined with 36 points in the paint by Pulaski doomed them in the game.

Raiven Patterson led the Cougars with 10 points. Kasey Holcomb added nine points and five assists. The Cougars also had key post play from Brittany Lawson and Daisy Ball. Lawson scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds, while Ball scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds.

The Cougars now travel tonight to take on River Ridge top seed Salem at 6 p.m. with a trip to the tournament championship game at Roanoke College on Wednesday on the line. The Spartans were off last night and had a first round bye. Grubb sees their break from action as a potential disadvantage for them and a positive for his team.

“Hopefully, this is one of those games that will get the rust out,” Grubb said. “I think it did. As crazy as the weather has been, we’ve had some many games rescheduled, and postponed and some many practices cancelled, it is easy for kids to lose their sharpness.

“I would like to think this was kind of a warm up game for the game tomorrow night. Salem didn’t play tonight. Hopefully we’ll come out crisp against them and be able to get a big victory on our way to the district championship game.”

Put this into the list of ridiculous rules which make no sense to go along with the continuation rule in the NBA, homefield advantage in the World Series to the league that wins the MLB All-Star game, and the idea to not use replay in some sports.

As is the case with replay, however, the NCAA needs to wake up with this rule.

Why should four or five games mean an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament? Especially if a team is in an awful conference that only deserves one automatic bid to begin with.

Why even play the regular season if that is the case?

Every year we see teams that do not belong in the NCAA Tournament solely get in because they literally won four games at the end of the season.

This year it was Houston, who won the Conference USA tournament after finishing 15-15 in the regular season and 7-9 in the conference, which currently holds one ranked team in 25th ranked UTEP. Houston's only win against a top 25 team came against UTEP in the Conference USA championship.

Also getting an automatic bid was Washington who was third in the PAC-10 conference which holds zero ranked teams. Washington finished the regular season 19-9, losing to the only ranked team they faced.

Illinois, Arizona State, Mississippi State, and Virginia Tech, along with a host of others, are far better teams than Houston and arguably better than Washington. 

Yes, it is exciting to watch a team win four or five games in a row to earn a bid, but will it be exciting when that team loses by 20 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament?

Is it fair to a team that has built a resume based on the entire season to hand their bid to a team that ended on a four-game winning streak against a bad conference?

Absolutely not.

Give the winner of a conference tournament respect while contemplating whether or not they should make the tournament, but do not give them an automatic bid. Give them an automatic NIT bid if anything.

Besides earning the respect of a conference, earning an NIT bid would make teams in the lower part of a conference play hard in their conference tournament to continue their seasons.

The NCAA tournament is about the 65 best teams playing against one another. As with any playoff system, you want the best of the best to play each other.

This automatic bid rule is completely hypocritical as to what a playoff system is all about.

Imagine if divisions in baseball held divisional tournaments for non-division winners at the end of the season and the winners would face one another for the wildcard.

Cool? Yes. Fair? Not in the least bit.

Most of the time the team that wins a conference tournament is, although unworthy of an automatic bid, at least decent, but one day a below .500 team is going to win their conference tournament and make a mockery out of the NCAA Tournament, while at the same time ruin the chances of a more worthy team.

But as with anything that raises money and T.V. ratings, especially in the NCAA, this rule will stand for some ridiculous reason.

The early morning start at the Bok Center for Houston in their C-USA title game against UTEP did not show its effects at any point in the game.

The Cougars and Miners played to a 43-38 score at halftime, with the Miners leading. But, come time for the second half, Tom Penders' Cougars turned the energy switch on and played like they knew they were the champions already.

With 7:38 left in the game, Houston was down by nine, and UTEP was looking for the dagger to stick in the Cougars' upset hopes. That was when Kelvin Lewis made the first of his three big three-pointers. Lewis' trifecta put the momentum back in the hands of his team.

Forty-seven seconds later, after a couple missed shots from UTEP, the senior from Fort Worth drained a second basket from beyond the arc off a steal by Maurice McNeil. That shot put Houston within three...and with the tough defense on both Derrick Caracter and Randy Culpepper, the Cougars were poised to break into the big dance.

Lewis again took the spotlight, and the lead, for Houston with 3:15 left. Catching a pass from Aubrey Coleman, he shot a three and drained it again. This shot gave the Cougars a 71-70 lead, and they never looked back. A 10-3 run to end the game ensued, but not without a good amount of drama that only a game like this can produce.

With less than a minute left Houston was only up by two, 74-72, but thanks to cold shooting by UTEP, and hustle by Coleman and his teammates, Tom Penders got a tournament berth with his fourth team.

Coleman was able to swipe the ball from Julyan Stone and drive down the court for a layup. Twelve seconds later, Lewis pickpocketed Culpepper and found Adam Brown for a layup, putting Houston up 78-72. 

After Coleman and Zamal Nixon knocked down free throws to give their team three more points, the defensive coverage inside on Caracter, and the pressure applied to Miners' star Culpepper resulted in three desperate misses by the UTEP guard, and a celebration on the floor of the Bok Center for the Houston Cougars.

The heart and hustle that Houston showed today can be very dangerous to a first round opponent. Tom Penders knows how to coach a basketball team, and with his Cougar team most likely receiving a seed anywhere from a 10 to a 13, they could make a big splash next weekend.

Spoon River's ultra talented guard Jerome Harris has had a busy year so far. Harris has been a hot target for college recruiters since the day he stepped onto Spoon River's campus. With a high profile recruitment, Harris has remained to stay focus and humble. He has been hearing from some of the country's best programs, and has done so with a extremely hard work ethic on and off the court. Harris who is rated as the 3rd best point guard and the 12th best player in the top 100 national juco rankings has trimmed his list to 5 schools. Texas, Minnesota, Gonzaga, USC, and Houston has all made the cut but considered Iowa, Cal, Pittsburgh, Florida Gulf Coast, Alabama St, Oregon St, Washington, Toledo, Central Michigan, and Cal St Riverside.

Which ever school Harris selects he will be an immediate impact. " I have a great relationship with all the schools that is recruiting me, and all the coaches are real cool" says Harris. " Im in the proccess of evaluating all 5 schools and selecting from there" he added. Harris admits that new schools have called and interested in getting involved with him. " Yes, Uconn has called me several times over the last week". " They were recruiting me since HS revisited with me, but stopped communicating since then". " Really its hard for me to take in new schools, I have 5 to focus on and I have a leader (Houston)". says Harris. Houston has been in hot pursuit and highly active recruiting Jerome the entire recruiting process. " I have a strong relationship with Houston". " Coach Lewis is a real dude, he cares, and knows how to develop pro's"." I talk to him everyday" Harris says. Texas is the other school has been highly active in recruiting Jerome." Texas is a real good program, the coaches are real cool, we talk all the time"." He reports to start taking visits and is expected to be on Houston campus soon and Texas shortly after.

At 6'3 175 pounds, Harris is a cant miss prospect as he's flooded in potential. Harris who committed to Indiana as a junior in HS is also the younger cousin of Kansas Sherron Collins. " I dont get to talk to him alot like I usually would because of our schedules, but sometimes he will shoot me a text or something checking on me" says Harris. Harris comes from a big basketball tradition family who supports him the entire way through the recruiting proccess. " My family loves basketball, and they are excited about the decision I make". " My mom and dad will always buy me shirts and other gear on the teams thats recruiting me, and my sister has all my recruiting letters and she has made me a huge book of them all with news paper articles". " They all love it, because it makes me happy and I do it for all of us" says Harris.

In recent years many schools have not recruited juco talent, but has started to make strong considerations on the great deal of talent that lies within the NJCCA. Duke's Coach K, recently has been extremely active in the juco ranks after missing out on some of the nations top prep players. UCLA's Ben Howland got a commitment from the top juco point guard in the country in Lazeric Jones. Arizona St's Herb Sendek has recieved a commitment from a juco combo guard who is his 1st to offer since his arrival at Arizona St. UNC's Roy Williams has struggled this past season with a point guard, and is actively on the juco trail as well. Harris on the other hand has heard from schools of that nature. What makes Harris is special is uncanny ability to take his game to another level, and emerge as an elite prospect, maybe the grades he's boasting, or his 3 years of eligibility. " I think that by me having 3 years of eligibility left has a lot to do with my recruiting". " What I think makes me good is that I want to be, so im always asking for help and always in the gym".

No doubt with a mindset with talent in a kid of his nature the sky is the limit for him.

If college basketball was just a two-on-two competition, the Houston Cougars would be one of the best teams in the nation.  Unfortunately, Houston has to field five players at a time, and the Cougars are 5-2 with no votes in the AP or Coaches Poll.

Aubrey Coleman and Kelvin Lewis are amazing fans at the Hofheinz Pavilion and are waiting for their teammates to join in on the fun.

Coleman is leading all of Division I in scoring with 26.7 points per game. Instead of stepping on opponents, he is dribbling around and shooting over them.

The 6'4'' senior guard is shooting 48 percent from the field and 43 percent from three-point range.

Showing that he is not just focusing on offense, Coleman tops Division I in steals with 3.7 per game and leads the Cougars in rebounds at seven per outing.

Lewis is averaging 17.9 points per game while shooting an amazing 53 percent from three-point range. Lewis' 4.14 made three-pointers per game ranks him third in Division I.

In the seven games the Cougars have played so far, Coleman has been the team's leading scorer five times, and it has been Lewis in the other two games.

A loss to San Diego represents the only occasion neither player scored at least 20 points in a game. Together, Coleman and Lewis represent 51.6 percent of the team's scoring output.

Although Houston has earned a win over a previously-ranked Oklahoma squad, the team needs to find others to help out its dynamic duo.

The most likely candidate is junior college transfer Adam Brown. Brown is averaging 13.7 per game and 12.8 in his four starts.

The problem with starting Brown with Coleman and Lewis is that the Cougars would have four starters no taller than 6'4'', assuming 5'8'' Desmond Wade runs the point.

Wade does a great job orchestrating the offense and dishing out assists but only scores 8.1 points per game.

Coach Tom Penders was hopeful that juco transfer Maurice McNeil would be a productive player in the post, but a 19.7 average at San Jacinto College has only translated into 5.3 points per game at Houston.

Freshman forward Kirk Van Slyke is shooting poorly and committing too many fouls to earn consistent playing time. Freshman forward Kendrick Washington has struggled to get back on the court after having surgery to repair stress fractures in both shins.

In the game against Troy, Penders gave extended playing time to both forward Kahmell Broughton and guard Nick Haywood.

The pair responded by scoring 10 and four points respectively. On the negative side, those point totals also represent the only points that either registered all season long.

Houston's dependence on the production of two players has affected the Cougars' success on the defensive end.

The Cougars are clearly not playing as a team defensively. The opponents are out-rebounding Houston by 10.6 per game, and the Cougars help defense has often been non-existent.

The Cougars can beat teams like Nicholls State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi the way they are performing now.

However, in order to defeat Mississippi State and Conference USA teams like Tulsa, Memphis, UAB, and UTEP, the Cougars have to play at both ends of the court as one cohesive unit.

Two men scoring and the rest watching will only lead to disappointment and the Cougars playing in a post-season tournament they would rather not be participating in.

Photo Credit: Yardbarker.com

It has been five years since Conference USA entered a season looking so unfamiliar. Five years ago the league suffered through a radical overhaul that sent five teams to the Big East, several more to mid-major conferences, and welcomed in a few new schools to the mix.

But heading into this season, the league will look radically different again. This time, all the same teams will return, but most without the star players that were the faces of the league last season.

Without former league powers Louisville and Marquette, Memphis rose to the top of the league, dominating Conference USA at a historic level under Coach John Calipari. But Calipari traded in Memphis Blue for Kentucky's Big Blue and with that likely goes the Tigers' 61 game winning streak and stranglehold on the league.

The door is now wide open for Tulsa who hasn't seen much postseason success since joining Conference USA prior to the 2005-2006 season. The Golden Hurricane men's basketball team is poised to regain the success it saw when the school reached at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament five times from 1997 to 2003.

Tulsa's resurgence falls on the shoulders of two returning stars and an incoming freshman that ESPN rates as the 14th best freshman point guard in the country.

Trailing Tulsa will be two teams that will make C-USA basketball relevant in Houston, Texas. Rice and Houston have historically always been strong rivals across all sports, but their basketball rivalry has typically been one-sided.

In 2010, both will field teams that will make them among the best in the league and give this underrated rivalry some juice.

After the top three, a mish-mash of mediocre teams will fill out the middle of the leagues.

At the bottom of the league, a bevy of teams missing their superstars will call the basement home. Central Florida without Jermaine Taylor, UAB without Robert Vaden and Paul Delaney, Memphis without Antonio Anderson, Robert Dozier, Shawn Taggart, and Tyreke Evans, and Southern Mississippi without Jeremy Wise will be seriously hurting in 2010.

Team by team capsules, projections, and all-league teams after the jump.

1. Tulsa

The Golden Hurricane has the best inside-outside, one-two punch in the league with the tandem of guard Ben Uzoh and center Jerome Jordan. Uzoh led the team in scoring a 14 points per game last year as a junior, down almost a point and a half from his sophomore season.

Uzoh's offensive efficiency also dropped last season, but if the dynamic point guard can regain his sophomore season form, he could be the league's best player as a senior.

Tulsa's center Jerome Jordan isn't the league's best player yet, but he certainly has the most professional potential. Jordan stands seven feet tall and can at times steal the show. Inconsistency plagues Tulsa's tree as the center has been slow to develop during his first three seasons in Oklahoma.

Jordan is a highly efficient offensive player with a true-shot rating that ranks 56th in the country. He also knocks down his free throws at a solid rate for a center (74%). Jordan can also dominate the defensive end of the floor.

The senior center ranked 20th in the country in both defensive rebounding and shot blocking. His presence in the middle of the floor is the biggest reason Tulsa was so good defensively last season.

Two men don't make team though. Uzoh and Jordan will have great support with starters Justin Hurtt and Bishop Wheatley returning. Wheatley isn't much a scorer which can put pressure on Uzoh to do more than he has to as a scoring point guard.

That pressure will be alleviated a bit with incoming guard Donte Medder. ESPN rates Medder as the 14th best point guard prospect in the country. His presence will allow Uzoh to play off the ball to find his own shot rather than create it every time.

2. Houston

If Ben Uzoh and Jerome Jordan make up the league's best one-two punch, then Houston's Aubrey Coleman and Kevlin Lewis are a very close second.

Unlike Uzoh and Jordan who are an inside-outside combine, Coleman and Lewis destroy teams with slashing and shooting. Colemand gets to the basket with ease while Lewis is a constant threat to knock down the long ball.

What separates Houston's duo from Tulsa's tandem is the supporting cast. The Cougars bring back starting point guard Desmond Wade and last year's second and third options off the bench Zamal Nixon and Nick Mosley.

Houston's incoming recruits are nothing extra special, but coach Tom Penders will rely on them to provide more minutes than they might be prepared for.

3. Rice

Houston will win with star power while crosstown rival Rice will win with depth. The Owls return five players that can lead the team in scoring each night. Starting point guard Rodney Foster is gone, but Rice has potential stars in Connor Frizzelle and Lucas Kuipers.

If Frizzelle, Kuipers or Trey Stanton, Cory Pflieger, Lawrence Ghoram - the other three Owls capable of leading this team- take their game to the next level, Rice could have its best season since 2004 when the Owls were still in the WAC.

4. Marshall

The Thundering Herd feature a roster very similar to Rice from the standpoint Marshall returns five players that can lead the team in scoring each night. Only leading scorer Markel Humphrey is gone, but his output will likely be replaced by one of the best recruits in the league, center Hassan Whiteside.

Whiteside gives Marshall a much needed inside presence. Having a big body to anchor the center of Marshall's defense should allow the Thundering Herd to improve on its terrible 1.041 points per possession allowed.

5. UTEP

The Miners lose star slasher Stefon Jackson and center Kareem Cooper, but have three reliable options returning including future all-league guard Randy Culpepper. UTEP also brings back one of the league's best rebounders, Arnett Moultrie.

The Miners will have the option of teaming Moultrie up with the extremely talented Derrick Caracter who's behavioral problems forced him out of Rick Pitino's lineup.

Caracter is a 6'9'' load under the basket that showed stints of domination when at Louisville, but can also disappear and make just as many terrible, bone-headed or selfish plays as good plays.

6. Tulane

Defense hasn't been a problem for awhile for the Green Wave, but instead the squad has struggled putting points on the board in league play. That may change a bit as one of the league's most efficient players, Kevin Sims should be the uncontested top option as several inefficient key options have graduated.

Even if the offense doesn't come around behind Sims, the defense has been the team's calling card and should continue to win the Green Wave games in 2010. Tulane's undersized lineup has had no trouble forcing teams into bad decisions and turnovers.

7. Southern Methodist

The Mustangs have been awful in league play since joining Conference USA before the 2005-2006 season. SMU has never won more than four games in the conference, but that should change with a veteran lineup.

SMU brings back nine of its top players from its rotation including Paul McCoy who led the team in scoring as a freshman.

The Mustangs struggled defensively last season, but the team's rotation essentially intact, SMU can likely only go up.

8. East Carolina

SMU had its troubles on the defensive side of the floor last year, but East Carolina took bad defense to a new level. Only five teams in the nation allowed more points per possession than Pirates.

With three starters back and four more members of East Carolina's rotation, the Pirates can only get better.

East Carolina's offensive can keep the Pirates afloat in 2010 if the defensive comes around at all. Darrius Morrow and Jamar Abrams are C-USA stars in the making. Having a point guard that distributes as well as Brock Young, makes scoring much easier. Young assisted on 45% of a field goals scored when he was on the floor, a rate that ranked second in the country.

9. Central Florida

Jermaine Taylor was Central Florida basketball last year. No player was leaned on more heavily than Golden Knight two-guard. But he's gone, as is second leading scorer Tony Davis and starting center Kenrick Zondervan.

The Golden Knights do have the league's deepest and most talented recruiting class in the league which won't help much this year, but could be setting UCF for a future title run.

10. Memphis

Oh how far have the mighty fallen. The top four members of the 2009 Tigers are gone. Left are options five through nine for coach Josh Pastner. Those five players have never been a top option at the college level. There's no point guard in the bunch and little size.

So help has to be on the way, right? Well, not really. Power forward Will Coleman will provide some size and a lot of talent, but that's only six players. Small forward Martin Ngaloro will be asked to be contributed now, but he's likely not going to be ready for Conference USA ball.

Preston Laird and Angel Garcia are also on the roster under scholarship, but neither will contribute much to this Memphis team.

The Tigers' only hope is to have Duke transfer Elliot Williams cleared to play immediately. Williams talent could instantly turn Memphis into a top five team in the league. As for now, this roster is headed towards disaster

11. Southern Mississippi

USM is in a very similar position as Memphis. Three of the top four contributors for the Golden Eagles are gone and only six players return from last year's team. Only three of those six players had a real impact for Southern Miss.

R.L. Horton will likely score a ton for the Golden Eagles, but he won't have much help. The recruiting class is one of the worst in the league meaning relief isn't on the way in 2010.

12. UAB

The Blazers' situation is so bad that it is essentially the sum of the awfulness of Memphis's problems and the awfulness of Southern Mississippi's problems. The names left on Mike Davis's roster are unrecognizable. The recruits aren't that great. There's only 10 scholarship players on the roster - six of which are freshmen or JUCO transfers.

This season should be historically bad year for the program.

All Conference USA Preseason Team

Tulsa guard Ben Uzoh

Tulsa center Jerome Jordan

Houston guard Aubrey Coleman

Houston guard Kevlin Lewis

UTEP guard Randy Culpepper

Preseason Player of the Year

Tulsa center Jerome Jordan

Preseason Freshman of the Year

Tulsa guard Donte Medder

Preseason Coach of the Year

Doug Wojcik

Conference Previews:

Dayton is Class of Atlantic 10, but Richmond, Charlotte, and La Salle Could Surprise

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This evening, starting at five o'clock, two of the biggest games in Houston will be played in Hofheinz Pavilion, on the University of Houston Campus.

And most people don't know about them.  Most people don't care about them.  Most people don't know why they don't care, or why they should.

Tonight, on Cullen Blvd., the Super Bowl will be played, twice.

Alright, alright, I know that the NFL is basically done, and Houston hasn't had anything to do with that big game since 2004.  And I know that most people don't even bother to look out the window at the vast expanse of Houston as they fly between the coasts. But these really are two of the biggest games of the year.

Tonight, on Guy V. Lewis Court, the University of Houston Cougars face the Rice Owls in two games of NCAA Division I basketball.

Wow, you say.  That was really built up, only to come down to insignificant games between insignificant teams.  And maybe you're right.  Maybe they are insignificant teams.  But these certainly aren't insignificant games.

Houston and Rice are the two closest Division I campuses, only six miles apart.  They're connected by a dedicated T-3 network line to each other and the Texas Medical Center, exclusively for sharing research in biochemistry, nanotechnology, superconducting, and any number of other unpronounceables.  They're connected by the city they share, specifically by MacGregor Drive.

But they're separated by mission:  Rice is part of the Ivy League of the South; Houston is the school for the working-class families.  They're separated by athletic history and tradition: Rice athletics has been nearly noncompetitive since the 1960's; while Houston only began to blossom then, and now has five Final Fours, three NBA players of the century, three Cotton Bowl wins, sixteen golf team national titles, and many other honors.

In basketball, they're also separated by all-time record: UH women lead 42-7, UH men lead 53-14.

This year, the Houston men are in a tie for fifth in conference, and with teams ahead of them playing in tough games or trap games, could move to third by midnight with a win. The Rice men stand 10th, but a hot streak could help them leapfrog two teams at a time to climb the standings quickly.

The Lady Cougars are surprising the league this year, in fourth place with a team of freshmen and sophomores, ready to climb on any game day.  The Lady Owls haven't won a conference game yet.

Okay, so you still think I'm silly for getting so excited about four insignificant teams.  But you haven't seen these games lately.

As Houston coach Tom Penders told a local radio show on Friday, in these games against Rice, you can throw out the records.  The hosts agreed, remembering that they had never seen another series with such strange twists and developments.

While I say that Rice has been nearly noncompetitive (except in baseball), they are always competitive when playing Houston.  This is their NCAA tournament, Finals, World Series, and Olympics.  This is their Super Bowl.

And Houston does not back down from that challenge.  Coaches, writers, scouts, fans - all marvel at the way both teams play "faster;" not just running faster, but with that edge and grit and determination normally reserved for the last game of one's life.

Tonight, you can come see the Super Bowl of college basketball.  Twice.  The ladies will tip-off at 5 PM, with the gentlemen to follow at 8 PM. One ticket will be valid for both matchups, and can be acquired at the door, or at the Cougars' athletic site.

In the heart of the athletics zone of the University of Houston campus, Hofheinz Pavilion seems to hover over its hill on Cullen Blvd.  Named after the man who got the Astrodome built, it has provided a permanent home to UH basketball since 1969.

While the men's basketball team hasn't quite reclaimed its summit marked by the Phi Slama Jama years of the early 1980's, the arena still provides the cozy atmosphere and thunderous amplification that fans have always enjoyed there.  Both attributes are derived from the ceiling, low and flat, with plastering and light fixture installations more akin to a living room than the trussed, dark, obscure roof-undersides found in most newer buildings.  It is also of the old mode of building a dirt hill, then digging the arena bowl out of it, so that fans enter from the top of the sections, and there are no broken places where an access tunnel connects from the concourse.

Those sensations of cozyness and amplification are regularly evident in games.  While the reasons for UH's struggles with attendance are another story, the intimate atmosphere of the low ceiling rarely leaves the fans feeling lonely, and the student section, often the most densely populated and vocal section, can usually get the effect of triple their numbers the way their sound bounces off the hard planes above and below.  When all fans get loud, the roar is reminiscent of an SEC football game.

The students, by C-USA rule, are kept in sections 117 to 119, which takes them from behind the south goal to the free-throw line, counterclockwise.  Most chants are basic, from the endless drone inspired by Duke, to "Let's go Cougars" x x xxx (x's being claps) and "Go, Coogs Go" x  x  x.  There are original ones that depend on the band's play, from their position behind the same goal, but those can only be illustrated by sound, or watching a game on TV.

The Cougars often entertain special guests, from the charismatic new UH president and the head football coach, to business and political leaders of Houston and members of the Houston Rockets and Texans.  The most common sight among these is Clyde Drexler, former player and coach of the team and current Rockets color commentator.  They will usually be found in the courtside seats at the north baseline, in front of the players' tunnel.

The food is catered by Aramark, and is generally edible, though a small three-dollar hotdog doesn't seem worthwhile to college students.  Even though the professional stadiums in town are slightly more expensive, a seven-dollar beer definitely takes itself off the menu, especially when Shiner Bock is not a choice.  The smell of the popcorn used to fill the arena wonderfully, the way the smell of dirt fills a baseball stadium on a sunny day, but it has been sadly absent the last two-and-a-half seasons.

The Cougars play entertaining basketball, and have generally been improving since Tom Penders arrived.  In a reader poll by the Houston Chronicle, University of Houston sports were rated the best entertainment value in the city.  This arena is worth at least one visit, and with the Cougars' home record higher than 75% there, the show should go well beginning to end.

Was Penders Right?