By Ken Cross
ORLANDO, Fla. – No. 10 Houston fought off UCF, 69-68, on Saturday and power forward J’Wan Roberts came to the rescue to carry the Cougars to their 10th consecutive win.
The Knights’ Keyshawn Hall made a layup with nine seconds remaining to give the Knights a 68-67 lead. After advancing the ball, Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson called time out as Houston was set with a sideline out-of-bounds opportunity on the left side of the floor.
Guards LJ Cryer, Emmanuel Sharp, and Mylik Wilson rolled out of the stack and spaced the floor at their respective spots.
This left forward J’Wan Roberts alone to catch the ball against Knights freshman center Mustapha Thiam. Roberts caught the inbounds pass from Milos Uzan and went to the basket to score on a left handed layup which allowed the Cougars to move their mark to 5-0 in Big XII play.
“We called a triple,” explained Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson. “That goes off a triple. It goes off a double. The other guy comes a single and we isolate a one. With the shooters we have around him (Roberts), they couldn’t risk coming down on him.”
Sampson described the logistics of Roberts’ move as he aggressively took the pass to the basket for win.
“Some guys are shoulder dominant and ‘Wan, can hit middle on a spin back with his left hand on that side, just like he can on the other side,” said Sampson.
Roberts finished with 21 points and nine rebounds to lead all scorers as this was his 151st all-time game which is a Cougars’ record for career games.
Sampson talked about using Roberts more in isolations now than earlier in the season when the team was learning each other as they dropped a 74-69 decision to No. 1 Auburn in the opener and lost overtime decisions to No. 5 Alabama and San Diego State.
“I give credit to my teammates and my coaches for believing in me too,” said Roberts. “They trust me to make plays.”
Roberts has cemented his presence on the Houston roster since 2019 and Sampson discussed his achievements in the program since he came aboard.
“This group has a championship DNA,” Sampson explained. “This is the winningest player in the history of the basketball program. He’s been to the Final Four, the Elite Eight, the Big 12 championship, American championship. Same with this youngster (Javier Francis) over here.”
Francis put together a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and he found shots early in the game when he scored 10 points in the first 10:15 to keep the Cougars within reach at 18-16.
“We had a savior tonight and it was Javier,” said Sampson. “There was no question about it and it was Javier. He played like a senior and it was awesome tonight. I can’t tell you how proud I am. On a night when we needed it, he stepped up and played well. I’m proud of this young man.”
The Cougars struggled from three as they were only 3-of-16 while averaging 21 three-point attempts and shooting 41.9 percent this season.
“Emanuel (Sharp) and LJ (Cryer) are two pretty good shooters, so the name of the game is ‘not play good and figure out how to win,’” said Sampson. I’d rather win the game than look good.”
UCF led 38-26 with 1:13 to play in the first half and after Francis and Uzan cut it to 38-30 at the break, the Cougars started the second half as they took their defense to a higher level.
Uzan scored a quick four points while Sharp hit a three and Roberts had a layup to give Houston its first lead at 39-38 with 16:20 remaining. The Cougars stopped UCF as the Knights were 0-for-7 with three turnovers in that period before Darius Johnson’s tap-in was UCF’s first basket of the second half.
“The big kid (Moustapha Thiam) was a factor and we told J’Wan, ‘Quit playing with your back to the basket against that kid. He’s 7-foot-2. He’s got an advantage.’” said Sampson. “You’re advantage is playing him 15 feet and in and play in front of him.’”
Roberts and Francis were keys later as they paced Houston on a 14-2 run after UCF took a 54-47 lead on a triple by Dior Johnson with 9:30 to play. Sharp scored on a layup and a 17-footer before Francis made two free throws to give the Cougars a 61-56 lead with 5:52 left.
“Some halftimes are more important than others even though these kids have had a ton of success,” said Sampson. “Sometimes they have to be reminded about what’s important.”
Thiam had 18 points as he was 7-of-10 from the field to pace the Knights.