HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- It’s not easy to win a basketball game when you shoot 32 percent from the field. It’s even harder to do so in the NCAA Tournament, and nearly impossible in the Elite Eight, but that’s what Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars did when they beat Oregon State three years ago.
The Beavers shot 47 percent in the Cougars 67-61 win that night in Indianapolis, but while it didn’t make many, Houston advanced to its first Final Four since 1984 because it attempted 15 more shots. It won the possession game.
“People like to call it ugly. I don’t care what you call it, I call it winning,” Sampson said Monday. “You’ve got to figure out how to win, and sometimes you’ve got to have more possessions, more shots.”
The possession battle is determined by offensive rebound and turnover differential. In finishing the regular season 28-3, Houston grabbed 4 more offensive rebounds per game than its opponents while committing 7.4 fewer turnovers, giving the Cougars 11.4 more possessions per game. No other team in the nation finished in double figures.
Sampson has preached winning the possession battle his entire career.
“The reason why is I’ve had a lot of teams that were not good shooting teams,” he said. “So what is our contingency plan? How do you win a game when you don't make shots?”
241 Division I teams shot better than Houston’s 43.8 percent field goal percentage this season, and its 34.8 percent three-point success rate was 132nd best in the nation. The Cougars are 12th in KenPom's offensive efficiency rating because they are 8th in turnover rate and 8th in offensive rebound rate.
“I've only had one or two teams here that I thought could beat you on its first shot,” Sampson said. “When I had Corey Davis and Armoni Brooks (in 2017-2019), that team could beat you with its first shot because those two guys made around 220 threes combined.”
L.J. Cryer leads the Cougars with 96 made three-pointers this season, and Emanuel Sharp is second with 65, but no one else has eclipsed the 40-mark.
“As long as we get a shot every possession coach usually isn’t mad,” guard Jamal Shead said. “Our defense is our defense. We're number one in the nation with that. We take pride in it, and we turn you over, cool, but we’re gonna try to make you miss, we’re gonna try to make it as hard as possible every possession.”
Houston won’t get through the NCAA Tournament without going through a shooting drought at some point, and it won’t go through the NCAA Tournament without an opponent getting catching fire. How do you withstand that? Win the possession battle.