HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- With three games remaining in the regular season Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars control its destiny in its pursuit of a Big 12 title. Winning the nation’s best conference would be a massive achievement for a program that spent decades off the national radar.
So, has Sampson thought about what it would mean to get it done?
“No,” the Cougars coach said bluntly after Tuesday’s 67-59 win over Cincinnati. “It’s a grind, man. The highs and lows of the season.”
Sampson’s team is now 12-3 in Big 12 play, 1.5 games ahead of Iowa State. The Cougars close conference play with games at Oklahoma and Central Florida before hosting Kansas in their regular season finale. Houston would win the league outright by winning all three.
“We have a chance, and that’s all it is,” Sampson said. “We have a chance to win the Big 12, so that’s our goal.”
The biggest concern Sampson had after Tuesday’s game was its health. The Cougars lost key reserve Terrance Arceneaux to a torn achilles in December, and then last week, Ramon Walker, who replaced Arceneaux in the Cougars’ rotation, tore his meniscus, but those aren’t the only injuries Houston is dealing with.
Sampson revealed J’Wan Roberts continues to deal with a knee injury that kept him from having “his normal pop” on Tuesday, while reserve forward Joseph Tugler has a balky right ankle.
“We’re just beat up,” Sampson said. "I know the training room will be really, really busy tomorrow.
Despite the injury woes, Houston is 25-3 this season and was the South Region’s top seed in the Top 16 reveal for the NCAA Tournament on February 17, but the NCAA Tournament is a long way off.
The Cougars will be favored in their final three games of the regular season, which will give them a chance to accomplish something significant, even if it isn’t front and center on their coach’s mind.
“We’d like to win the Big 12 because we have a chance,” Sampson said. “Most teams don’t have a chance, but there’s some that do. We’re one of them.