No. 8 Houston will be out to continue its impressive showing from the opening week of the season when it hosts Jacksonville State on Wednesday night.
The Cougars moved up two spots in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Houston (2-0) heads back to the court after an 86-68 win over Cal in the first-ever Lake Tahoe Classic in Stateline, Nev., on Sunday. Dedan Thomas Jr. scored 20 points to lead the Cougars while Joseph Tugler added 16 points and four blocked shots.
Thomas, who played last season at LSU, also had a game-high eight assists. Delrecco Gillespie racked up 13 points and eight rebounds, and Chase McCarty tallied 11 points for Houston, which shot 51.5% from the floor and led wire to wire.
The Cougars turned an 11-point halftime lead into a 23-point advantage in the second half before cruising to the 18-point victory while extending their winning streak against unranked opponents to 42 games.
“It’s all part of … a process,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said of his team’s play over the first two games. “But if these guys keep trusting in the process, just like everything else here, they’ll get better.
“We’re not a veteran team. We’re a very young team. We’re a very new team. We’re a very inexperienced team. These guys have never been coached by me, so it’s the process.”
Houston added to its roster last week when graduate guard Chendall Weaver (a transfer from Texas) made his debut for the Cougars.
Weaver was granted a temporary restraining order from a district court judge in Texas in an eligibility ruling just before the game against Cal and was an immediate factor, scoring six points with six rebounds. He also had three steals.
“Chendall is tough — he fits our identity on how we want to play at both ends, and he’s an extremely competitive kid,” Sampson said. “He has a chance to come in and make us better.”
Jacksonville State (1-1), meanwhile, is coming off an 83-80 loss in double overtime at South Alabama on Thursday. The Gamecocks got a career-high 27 points from Jordan Stiemke, while Chris Lockett Jr. added 25.
The Gamecocks led by 10 points with 1:26 left in regulation before the Jaguars closed on a 12-2 run to force OT. Jacksonville State was only 1 of 6 from 3-point range over the two extra periods and missed 4 of its 10 free-throw attempts in extra time.
“I felt like we gifted the game to them,” Jacksonville State coach Ray Harper said. “The game would’ve been over if we would’ve just held on to the ball and made free throws. And we didn’t make free throws like we needed.”
Harper said he is pleased with the roster he’s put together and expects to battle for the Conference USA title despite being picked seventh in the preseason poll.
“I just think we’ve got the right kind of guys,” Harper said. “… There’s sacrifices to be made if you want to be on a good basketball team.”