UH men’s basketball team seals Big 12 regular season title after 30-point victory over Kansas

Houston, Texas—In its inaugural season in the conference, No. 1 Houston clinched the Big 12 regular-season title with a commanding 76-46 victory over No. 14 Kansas on Saturday. Guard Jamal Shead led the charge for UH with 13 points, six rebounds, and eight assists, while guard Damian Dunn contributed 12 points.

Houston’s L.J. Cryer scored 11 points, and forward J’Wan Roberts added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Cougars (28-3, 15-3), who shot 46% from the field and made six three-pointers to establish a 40-21 halftime lead.

“We showed them what we’ve been doing all year,” remarked Shead. “They didn’t get our best shot at Kansas, we got theirs. I guess we gave them our best shot today.”

Houston shot 44% for the game, connecting on 11 of 29 attempts from beyond the arc, while forcing 18 turnovers and converting them into 30 points.

“It’s gratifying,” said Houston coach Kelvin Sampson of winning the Big 12 title. “I’m happy for everybody. There’s so many people that have an inferior complex about … we’re the University of Houston. This is a damn good school. We live in a damn good city, and we’re a damn good basketball program. We should never ever, ever, ever take a backseat to anybody.”

The victory marked Houston’s ninth consecutive win to close out the regular season, extending their home winning streak to 22 games.

“It’s almost like people thought the only teams we played were American (Athletic Conference),” added Sampson. “You don’t get to the Final Four, or Elite Eight, or Sweet Sixteen without beating other really, really good teams. The only difference was playing them every night, but they had to play us, too.”

Hunter Dickinson of Kansas contributed 11 points and six rebounds but left the game with 11:08 remaining due to a right shoulder injury sustained while battling for a rebound.

“Kevin, he hadn’t done anything since K-State much, and then, today, he felt better, thought he’d try,” Self said. “I wish we wouldn’t have played Kev. It’s a pretty level of concern when your two best players are questionable moving forward.”

Kansas (22-9, 10-8) has now lost three of its last four games. The Jayhawks shot 33% from the field and struggled from three-point range, making only 3 of 21 attempts.

Houston dominated the first half, establishing a 34-9 lead over Kansas. The Jayhawks experienced a dry spell, missing 10 consecutive field goal attempts at one juncture.

The game presented a sharp contrast to the teams’ initial meeting on Feb. 3 in Lawrence, where Kansas secured a 78-65 victory after jumping out to a 23-11 lead.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas: The Jayhawks suffered their sixth road loss in seven games.

Houston: The Cougars secured their 12th regular-season conference championship and fifth in the last six seasons under coach Kelvin Sampson.