PREVIEW: #1/1 Men’s Hoops Opens Big 12 Championship

Thursday, March 14

Kansas City, Mo. (T-Mobile Center)

2 p.m.

University of Houston

(8) TCU

Tickets

PREVIEW: #1/1 Men’s Hoops Opens Big 12 Championship

3/13/2024 9:45:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Preview – Coach Kelvin Sampson Preview – Jamal Shead Listen (950 AM KPRC)Game Notes

Cougars to meet (8) TCU/(9) Oklahoma at 2 p.m.,Thursday, inside T-Mobile Center in Quarterfinals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After clinching the outright Big 12 regular-season title last weekend and winners of its last nine games, the #1/1 University of Houston Men's Basketball program enters its first Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship when it competes in the Quarterfinals at 2 p.m., Thursday, inside T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.

The No. 1-seeded Cougars will face the winner of (8) TCU – –/rv (9) Oklahoma in the Quarterfinals.

Under the leadership of Big 12 Coach of the Year Kelvin Sampson, Houston captured the league's outright title with an impressive 76-46 win over #14/15 Kansas on Saturday during Senior Day in front of a Fertitta Center-record crowd of 7,933.

Senior point guard and Big 12 Player of the Year Jamal Shead led the Cougars with 13 points and flirted with a triple-double with six rebounds and a game-high eight assists while graduate guard Damian Dunn totaled 12 points with three 3-pointers.

This season, senior guard LJ Cryer leads Houston and ranks among the Big 12 Top-10 leaders with 15.7 points per game. Shead stands second with 13.2 points per game and tops the Cougars with 6.2 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He is the only student-athlete in the country to rank among the NCAA Top-20 leaders in assists per game, steals per game and assist-turnover ratio.

Senior forward J'Wan Roberts paces the Cougars with 7.0 rebounds per game. He is one of only three student-athletes to rank among the Big 12 Top-Three leaders in both offensive and defensive rebounding.

BIG 12 CONFERENCE POSTSEASON AWARDS
• Seven Cougars received Big 12 Conference postseason honors earlier this week.
• Sampson was named the league's Coach of the Year. It was his third straight conference Coach of the Year honor and the ninth time from the fifth different league in his career.
• Shead was recognized as the Big 12 Player of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year, before the first student-athlete in league history to receive both honors in the same season, He also was the lone unanimous pick to the First Team and was a unanimous choice for the All-Defensive Team.
• Cryer was named to the All-Big 12 Team, earning his second straight postseason honor from his second different school. The Katy, Texas, native was a Third-Team honoree with Baylor during the 2022-23 season.
• Senior forward J'Wan Roberts was named to the Third Team for his first Big 12 honor. Roberts was a Second-Team choice and received the Most Improved Player award with the American Athletic Conference a year ago.
• Junior forward Ja'Vier Francis and sophomore guard Emanuel Sharp received Honorable Mention. This was Sharp's second straight season with a postseason accolade after being named to The American All-Freshman Team while Francis received his first postseason award.
• Making his collegiate debut in 2023-24, freshman forward Joseph Tugler was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.

TUNE IN
• Fans can watch Thursday's game on ESPN with Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play), Chris Spatola (analyst) and Kris Budden (reporter) calling the action.
• Fans can hear Thursday's game on 950 AM KPRC and the Varsity Network app with Jeremy Branham (play-by-play) and Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes calling the action. The pregame show begins at 1:45 p.m., Thursday.
• Fans can follow live stats by visiting StatBroadcast.com and following the appropriate links or by clicking here.

POSTSEASON CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
• In 2023-24, the Cougars are competing in their conference postseason tournament for the 19th time in the last 20 seasons and the 46th time in the last 48 seasons... Only an absence from the 2020 American Championship (COVID-19 pandemic) and the 2004 Conference USA Championship prevents a perfect streak.
• Houston has posted a 56-37 record during conference postseason tournaments during its history... That includes a 14-7 record in the American Athletic Conference, a 13-15 mark in Conference USA play and a 28-16 tally in the Southwest Conference.
• During its conference postseason history, Houston has advanced to the Semifinals 24 times, made 16 Title Game appearances and won eight tournament titles.

HOUSTON by SEEDING at CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
• This marks the sixth time that Houston has been seeded No. 1 at a conference championship (2024 Big 12; 2023, 2022, 2019 American; 1984, 1983 SWC).
• Houston is 11-2 when competing as a No. 1 seed at a conference Championship. The Cougars are also 8-2 when playing as the No. 1 seed at The American Championship.
• This marks the third straight season in which Houston has been a No. 1 seed at a conference Championship with the previous two in the American Athletic Conference.
• This is the fourth time Houston has competed as a No. 1 seed under Head Coach Kelvin Sampson.
• In the most recent tournament as the No. 1 seed, Houston advanced to the American Athletic Conference Championship Title Game for the fifth straight season with wins over (9) East Carolina and (4) Cincinnati before falling to (3) Memphis inside Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on March 10-12, 2023.
• The Cougars captured the 1984 and the 1983 Southwest Conference Championship titles as the No. 1 seed with a pair of victories each season.

ABOUT TCU
• TCU brought a 20-11 overall record and 9-9 Big 12 mark into the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.
• TCU tied with Texas for seventh in the standings and will play as the #8 seed at the Championship.
• TCU is 2-2 in neutral-site games in 2023-24.
• The Horned Frogs have lost three of their last four games. Only a 93-81 win at West Virginia on March 6 prevents a longer streak.
• Against West Virginia, senior forward Emanuel Miller led TCU with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting and tied with senior guard Avery Anderson III and senior forward Essam Mostafa for team-high honors with five rebounds each. Senior guard Jameer Nelson Jr. posted 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting with three treys and added five rebounds with a pair of assists while senior guard Micah Peavy totaled 16 points with four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
• This season, Miller leads TCU with 16.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Nelson is second with 11.3 points and 3.3 assists per contest while leading the Horned Frogs with 2.1 steals per game. Peavy is a close third with 11.1 points per game.
• Head Coach Jamie Dixon is in his eighth season at TCU and his 21st as a collegiate head coach.
• Dixon has posted a 159-108 record with TCU and is 487-231 during his career.
• Dixon previously built a 328-123 record at Pittsburgh (2003-16).
• Dixon is 1-0 against Houston during his career with the lone previous meeting coming during his TCU tenure.
• Dixon is 1-0 against Houston Coach Kelvin Sampson during their career with the lone previous meeting coming during Sampson's Houston and his TCU tenure.
• 1987 graduate of TCU.

SERIES HISTORY vs. TCU
• Houston owns a 48-26 lead in the series history against TCU.
• Saturday's game is the second meeting against TCU during the 2023-24 season. The Horned Frogs took a 67-67 win in Fort Worth, Texas, on Jan. 13.
• TCU has won three of the last four meetings. Only a 54-48 Houston win in Fort Worth, Texas, on Dec. 4, 2012, prevents a longer streak.
• In the first meeting against TCU, Houston enjoyed a 101-58 win at the Birmingham Classic in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 10, 1955.
at Neutral Site: Houston is 8-0 against TCU in games played at neutral sites during the series history.
• In the most recent meeting at a neutral site, the Cougars claimed an 80-77 win during the SWC Classic inside Reunion Arena on March 9, 1995.
• In the first meeting at a neutral site, the Cougars took a 101-58 win at the Birmingham Classic in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 10, 1995, in the first game in series' history.
at Conference Tournament: Houston has posted a 5-0 record against TCU in conference tournaments during the series history.
• All five previous meetings came during the schools' Southwest Conference days.
• In the most recent meeting at a conference tournament, the sixth-seeded Cougars took an 80-77 win over No. 3 seed TCU at the SWC Classic inside Reunion Arena in Dallas on March 9, 1995.
• In the first meeting at the SWC Classic, No. 2 seed Houston claimed a 111-67 win over the ninth-seeded Horned Frogs inside Hofheinz Pavilion on Feb. 26, 1977.

ABOUT OKLAHOMA
• Oklahoma brought a 20-11 overall record and 8-10 Big 12 mark into Saturday's game in Norman, Okla.
• The Sooners are receiving votes in both the March 11 USA TODAY Sports Coaches (6 pts.) polls.
• Oklahoma tied with Kansas State for ninth in the league standings and will play as the #9 seed at the Championship
• The Sooners are 3-1 in neutral-site games this season.
• Oklahoma has lost three of its last four games entering the tournament. Only a 74-71 win in overtime against Cincinnati prevents a longer streak.
• The Sooners closed the regular season with a 94-80 loss at Texas on March 9.
• Against Texas, senior guard Rivaldo Soares led Oklahoma with 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting and drained three 3-pointers with two assists. Junior forward Jalon Moore totaled 16 points with a game-high nine rebounds while sophomore guard Milos Uzan posted 12 points with three rebounds and a game-high-tying seven assists. Graduate guard Le'Tre Darthard came off the bench with 10 points and two assists.
• This season, junior guard Javian McCollum leads Oklahoma with 13.3 points per game while sophomore guard Otega Oweh is second with 11.2 points per contest. Moore is third among the Sooners with 11.0 points per game but leads the team with 6.6 rebounds per game. Uzan paces the team with 4.4 assists per contest.
• Head Coach Porter Moser is in his third season at Oklahoma and his 20th year as a collegiate head coach.
• Moser has posted a 54-44 record with Oklahoma and is 347-286 during his career.
• Moser previously built a 188-141 record at Loyola Chicago (2011-21), a 51-67 mark at Illinois State (2003-07) and a 54-34 record at Little Rock (2000-03).
• Moser is 1-0 against Houston during his career.
• Moser is 1-0 against Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson during their careers.
• 1990 graduate of Creighton

SERIES HISTORY vs. OKLAHOMA
• The series against Oklahoma is tied at 2-2.
• Thursday's game would be the second meeting against Oklahoma during the 2023-24 season.
• The schools have alternated wins and losses throughout the series.
• In the most recent meeting, Houston claimed an 87-85 win in Norman, Okla., on March 2.
• In the first meeting against Oklahoma, the Sooners enjoyed a 55-51 win during the Lion's Club Tournament in Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston on Dec. 15, 1960.
at Neutral Site: Of the four meetings against Oklahoma in the series history, two have come at neutral site.
• The series is tied at 1-1 at a neutral site.
• In the most recent meeting, the Sooners took a 79-74 win at the RAMADA All-College Classic inside Chesapeake Arena in Oklahoma City on Dec. 17, 2011.
• In the first neutral-site encounter, Houston claimed a 100-93 win during the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, Alaska, on Nov. 26, 2009.
at Conference Tournament: Thursday's game would be the first time Houston has faced Oklahoma at a conference tournament.

UP NEXT
• With a win in Thursday's Quarterfinal, Houston will advance to the Big 12 Championship Semifinals, set for 6 p.m., Friday, inside T-Mobile Center.
• That game will air on ESPN or ESPN2.
• All Houston Men's Basketball games can be heard on 950 AM KPRC and the Varsity Network app.

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