(SportsRadio 610) - The Houston Cougars look to continue their postseason run Friday evening in Kansas City, Missouri when they tip off against the fifth-seeded Miami Hurricanes in a Sweet 16 matchup.
This marks the first time the two programs have ever faced off in the NCAA Tournament.
Dominant all season long while stifling opponents with a smothering defense that held them to just 36% shooting from the field and less than 57 points per game, the Cougars will face their toughest opponent yet.
“They’re really good at what they do,” Cougars junior guard Jamal Shead said. “They’re a really good offensive team. Everybody on their team can score the ball in a variety of ways. They can really shoot the ball.
The Hurricanes seem to be clicking offensively right now. They ran through Indiana in the second round 85-69 while shooting nearly 50% from the field including 9/23 from beyond the arc.
They’ve held their own defensively as well, keeping opponents to under 63 points per game thus far in the tournament.
Hurricanes guard Isaiah Wong has carried the offense thus far, averaging 16.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists during the tournament.
As of Thursday evening, the Cougars were 7-point favorites to beat Miami.
If the Cougars do in fact take care of business against the Hurricanes, they’ll advance to the third consecutive Elite Eight, but Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson isn’t thinking that far ahead.
“If we play good (tonight), we’ve got a chance to win,” Sampson said. “If we don’t, we’ll go home, and that’s just the way it is. Hasn’t changed since this tournament started. That’s why you don’t ever prepare for next week. You prepare for it logistically, but these games are hard to win man.”
Cougars senior guard Marcus Sasser has been preparing for this for more than a year since a foot injury prematurely ended his last season.
Since suffering a groin injury during the opening round victory against Northern Kentucky, Sasser said he’d be as close to 100 percent as possible by game time.
“I should be at least ninety, so I should be real close to a hundred,” Sasser said.
Meanwhile, Shead, who has been bothered by a knee injury which Cougars team trainer John Houston called tendinitis earlier in the week, expects to be a full-go Friday night.
“Mine was just a bang-up, so I’m back 100 percent in just these couple of days to recover,” Shead said. “I’m back pretty good.”
In what should be a fast paced, open-court game with a lot of running, the Cougars must get off to a better start.
The Cougars struggled offensively against Northern Kentucky before pulling away in the second half and trailed by 10 at the break against Auburn before Tremon Mark caught fire offensively scoring a game-high 26 points, while Jarice Walker and J’Wan Roberts imposed their will defensively, combining to block 11 shots in the win.
Slow starts have plagued the Cougars throughout the course of the season and they’ll have to be much more efficient from the tip Friday night if they want to get one step closer to playing in the Final Four at NRG Stadium, instead of watching it.