GAME 28 • at MEMPHIS FEB. 26, 2017 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON BASKETBALL ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS: 3204 Cullen Blvd. • Suite 2008 • Houston, TX • 77204 • Contact: Jeff Conrad ([email protected]) O: (713) 743-9410 | C: (713) 557-3841 | F: (713) 743-9411 • UHCougars.com HOUSTON COUGARS (19-8 • 10-5 American) HOUSTON COUGARS (19-8 • 10-5 American) SETTING the SCENE Nov. 5 UNC PEMBROKE (exhibition) W, 94-67 Nov. 11 MORGAN STATE ESPN3 W, 93-52 at MEMPHIS TIGERS (18-10 • 8-7 American) Television: CBS Sports Network Nov. 16 ANGELO STATE (exhibition) W, 84-72 4 p.m. • Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017 Ben Holden (PxP) Gulf Coast Showcase (Estero, Fla.) Jordan Cornette (analyst) Nov. 21 vs. George Mason W, 93-56 FedExForum (18,119) • Memphis, Tenn. Gary Parrish (analyst) Nov. 22 vs. South Dakota W, 85-58 Nov. 23 vs. Vermont W, 72-71 CBS Sports Network • KPRC 950 AM Radio: 950 AM KPRC Nov. 26 CORNELL ESPN3 W, 83-53 Jeremy Branham (PxP) BACK ON THE ROAD to FACE MEMPHIS on SUNDAY Pregame show begins at 3:45 p.m. Nov. 29 at LSU SEC L, 65-84 • Winners of six of their last seven games, the Cougars return to action when they meet Memphis at 4 p.m., Sunday, inside FedExForum. Series vs. Memphis: Memphis leads 31-14 Dec. 3 PRAIRIE VIEW A&M ESPN3 W, 105-61 • Cougars will have revenge on their minds after the Tigers claimed a 70-67 win in Dec. 6 at nr/rv Arkansas SEC L, 72-84 overtime on Jan. 19 inside Hofheinz Pavilion. 23rd straight season teams play Dec. 10 nr/rv RHODE ISLAND ESPNU W, 82-77 • Houston overcame 10-point halftime deficit to take a 75-70 win over UConn on Memphis has won three of last four Dec. 17 UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY ESPN3 W, 83-58 Wednesday night and split the regular-season series against the Huskies... Cougars Memphis won last, 70-67 (OT) Dec. 21 LIBERTY ASN/ESPN3 W, 77-54 became third team this season to post 10 wins in American Athletic Conference play Hofheinz Pavilion (Jan. 19, 2017) Dec. 23 HARVARD ESPN2 L,56-57 and have a one-game lead for third place in the latest standings. Memphis leads 19-3 in Memphis Dec. 28 * at UConn (Hartford, Conn.) ESPN2 W, 62-46 • With a win against Memphis on Sunday afternoon, Cougars clinch First-Round Memphis won last 14 in Memphis bye at The American Championship on March 9-12 inside XL Center in Hartford, Memphis won last in Memphis, 73-54 Dec. 31 * at USF ESPNU W, 70-56 Conn... Cougars also will post back-to-back 20-win seasons for first time since 2007-08 (24-12) and 2008-09 (21-12). FedExForum (Dec. 31, 2014)) Jan. 4 * TULSA ESPNU W, 64-61 Jan. 7 * #22/22 CINCINNATI ESPNU L, 58-67 HEADLINES and STORYLINES Houston Head Coach: Kelvin Sampson Jan. 11 * at East Carolina ESPNews W, 74-58 • Dotson has made at least one 3-pointer in all 27 games to date this season to (UNC Pembroke ‘78) Jan. 14 * at UCF CBSSN L, 70-77 stand in sole possession of second in Houston history... Will tie Houston record held Career Record: 554-307 (28th year) Jan. 19 * MEMPHIS CBSSN L, 67-70 (OT) by Robert McKiver with trey at Memphis on Sunday. Houston Record: 54-37 (3rd year) • Junior guard Rob Gray leads the Cougars and The American with 20.4 points vs. Memphis: 1-5 (1-3 with Houston) Jan. 21 * at rv/rv SMU ESPNU L, 64-85 per game... Senior guard Damyean Dotson ranks fourth with 17.5 points... Hous- Jan. 24 * TULANE CBSSN W, 65-51 ton is only team with two players among league’s top-four scoring leaders. vs. Tubby Smith: 3-2 (1-1 with Houston) Jan. 28 * TEMPLE ESPNU W, 79-66 • Cougars lead the American Athletic Conference and rank among the nation’s top-20 leaders in 3-point field goal percentage (40.0, 15th), fewest turnovers per Memphis Head Coach: Tubby Smith Feb. 1 * UCF ESPNU W, 82-64 game (9.8, 2nd nationally) and turnover margin (+4.0, 9th nationally). (High Point ‘73) Feb. 8 * at Tulane ESPNews W, 91-62 • Gray leads the Cougars and The American and ranks 27th nationally with 20.4 Career Record: 575-286 (26th yr.) Feb. 11 * at Tulsa ESPNU W, 73-64 points per game... Houston has not had a conference scoring champion since guard Memphis Record: 18-10 (1st yr.) Aubrey Coleman led UH, Conference USA and nation with 25.6 points per game. vs. Houston: 3-1 (1-0 with Memphis) Feb. 18 * #19/23 SMU ESPN2 L, 66-76 • Dotson is one of only three players to rank among The American’s top-12 leaders Feb. 22 * UCONN CBSSN W, 75-70 in both scoring (17.5 ppg, 4th) and rebounding (7.1 rpg, 12th). vs. Kelvin Sampson: 2-3 (1-0 with Memphis) Feb. 26 * at Memphis CBSSN 4 p.m. • Cougars lead or rank second in the American Athletic Conference in four statisti- cal categories, including scoring offense (75.0, 2nd), 3-point field goals per game Up Next * at #15/16 Cincinnati March 2 * at #15/16 Cincinnati ESPN2 6 p.m. (8.6, 2nd), turnovers per game (9.8, 1st) and turnover margin (+4.0, 1st). for Houston: 6 p.m. • Thursday, March 2 March 5 * EAST CAROLINA CBSSN 3 p.m. • Cougars are competing in Hofheinz Pavilion for the final time in 2016-17... Team Fifth Third Arena • Cincinnati American Athletic Conference Championship (Hartford, Conn.) will play off campus in 2017-18 as Hofheinz Pavilion undergoes a $60 million reno- CBS Sports Network • KPRC 950 AM March 9 First Round TBD TBD vation and becomes the Fertitta Center during the 2018-19 season. March 10 Quarterfinals TBD TBD UP NEXT March 11 Semifinals TBD TBD • Following Sunday’s game, the Cougars take on No. 15/16 Cincinnati at 6 p.m. March 12 Championship TBD TBD (CST), Thursday, inside Fifth Third Arena... Game can be seen on ESPN2 and heard on KPRC 950 AM. Home Games in BOLD CAPS; Times are Central and subject to change • From there, Cougars meet East Carolina at 3 p.m., Sunday... Will be the final home Television networks in parenthesis game inside Hofheinz Pavilion as the facility undergoes a $60 million renovation to become the Fertitta Center for the 2018-19 season. @UHCOUGARMBK Rankings – AP/ESPN USA Today Coaches • Prior to the game against East Carolina, Xavier Dupree, Bertrand Nkali, Kyle Meyer, Danrad Knowles and Damyean Dotson will be recognized on #ForTheCity Senior Night. #GoCoogs THE KELVIN SAMPSON RADIO SHOW HOUSTON COUGARS at a GLANCE (starters based on last game) FUDDRUCKERS • 3929 Southwest Freeway PROBABLE STARTERS Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl.-Exp. Hometown G-GS PPG RPG Other 7-8 p.m. • Mondays, beginning Jan. 2 25 Galen Robinson, Jr. G 6-1 190 So.-1L Houston, Texas 27-24 6.4 3.2 4.8 apg 32 Rob Gray G 6-2 185 r-Jr.-1L Forest City, N.C. 26-25 20.4 3.6 3.2 apg Head Coach Kelvin Sampson 21 Damyean Dotson G 6-5 210 r-Sr.-1L Houston, Texas 27-27 17.5 7.1 1.1 apg begins his weekly radio show 15 Devin Davis F 6-7 230 r-Jr.-JC Indianapolis, Ind. 14-9 8.9 5.4 1.1 apg on Monday, Jan. 2, at Fud- druckers. Hosted by Jeremy 33 Kyle Meyer C 6-10 230 r-Sr.-1L Atlanta, Ga. 27-13 2.4 3.4 0.4 apg Branham, the show will air from 7 to 8 p.m., on Monday RESERVES during the American Athletic 0 Danrad Knowles F 6-10 200 Sr.-3L Nassau, Bahamas 27-24 8.1 3.9 1.0 bpg Conference season. 12 Wes Van Beck G 6-2 190 Jr.-2L Houston, Texas 27-5 7.9 2.8 1.7 apg Fans can join the show at the restaurant, tune in to KPRC 950 AM or lis- 13 Bertrand Nkali F 6-9 235 r-Sr.-1L Bertoua, Cameroon 25-4 1.4 2.2 1.3 bpg ten via Cougar All-Access at UHCougars.com. 3 Armoni Brooks G 6-4 180 Fr.-HS Round Rock, Texas 25-3 4.6 2.4 0.4 spg Jan. 2 Feb. 6 Fans can participate in the show by ask- Jan. 9 Feb. 13 ing questions in person at the restaurant, by 5 Morris Dunnigan G 6-3 195 Jr.-JC Joliet, Ill. 18-0 2.7 0.9 0.2 spg Jan. 16 Feb. 20 tweeting questions to @UHCougarMBK or 1 Xavier Dupree F 6-9 210 Sr.-1L Houston, Texas 16-1 1.0 1.3 0.4 apg Jan. 23 Feb. 27 by leaving questions on the UHCougarMBK 30 Mateen Hirbod G 6-2 185 Fr.-HS Danville, Calif. 9-0 0.9 0.1 0.1 apg Jan. 30 March 6 Facebook page. 20 Valentine Sangoyomi C 6-9 250 Jr.-JC Lagos, Nigeria ––– ––– ––– ––– 2 NCAA National Championship Game Appearances • 5 NCAA Final Four Appearances • 19 NCAA Tournaments • 13 Conference Championships • 2 NBA Draft No. 1 Overall Picks • 11 NBA Draft First-Round Selections GAME 28 • at MEMPHIS FEB. 26, 2017 HOUSTON’S RECORD ... 2016-17 HOUSTON COUGARS Sampson Category Record Pct. Era Pct No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl.-Exp. Hometown-High School (Last School) All Games 19-8 .704 54-37 .593 0 Danrad Knowles F 6-10 200 r-Sr.-3L Nassau, Bahamas-HCYA [Houston, Texas] American Games 10-5 .667 26-25 .510 Non-Conference Games 9-3 .750 28-12 .700 1 Xavier Dupree F 6-9 210 Sr.-1L Houston, Texas-Trent Internationale/Alief Taylor (Paris JC) 3 Armoni Brooks G 6-4 180 Fr.-HS Round Rock, Texas-McNeil Home Games 11-4 .733 35-15 .700 5 Morris Dunnigan G 6-3 195 Jr.-JC Joliet, Ill.-Joliet West (Blinn JC) Away Games 5-4 .556 13-18 .419 Neutral Site Games 3-0 1.000 6-4 .600 12 Wes VanBeck G 6-2 190 Jr.-2L Houston, Texas-Westside 13 Bertrand Nkali C 6-9 235 r-Sr.-1L Bertoua, Cameroon-Arlington Country Day [Jacksonville, Fla.] (Lee JC) in Televised Games 18-6 .750 51-33 .607 15 Devin Davis F 6-7 230 r-Jr.-JC Indianapolis, Ind.-Warren Central (Odessa JC) vs.