Houston's defense is a force

Led by head coach Kelvin Sampson, Houston has turned into one of the national powerhouses in college basketball.

However, they have never really had those top recruits or that top-end talent that you see from most of the powerhouses in the country.

The main factor to the consistent play and deep runs into March Madness is the defense and discipline of Sampson’s squads.

Sampson has his team ready in all instances for anything that is thrown at them and has consistently had his team at the top of the list for the least points allowed in the entire country.

For instance, the Cougars led the entire nation last season in points allowed per game with only allowing 57.6 points per game throughout the entire season. Initially, people may argue that the Cougars aren’t playing in a power conference.

However, they have moved to the Big 12, a conference that is consistently known for putting up a ton of points.

Another crazy aspect of this stat is that the Cougars aren’t anywhere near the top of steals per game, blocks per game or turnovers per game. The discipline of the team has just prevented many misses from all types of offenses.

This season is expected to be no different than any season prior. Sampson has his lead guard who is also a lockdown defender in L.J. Cryer.

Cryer fits the mold of the top guards at Houston under Sampson. A quick guard that can shoot from behind the arc exceptionally well while also shutting down the opposing team’s top guard.

Additionally, the size of the team will be less in question than in normal seasons. J’Wan Roberts will likely be the main big man despite only standing at 6-foot-8.

However, Jacob McFarland is listed at just under seven feet so some size to a very disciplined squad will be something that can cause massive problems as a huge shot blocker.

The Houston defense will be put to an immediate test. The Cougars will face two teams from the highest-scoring conference in the entire country. They first will battle No. 11 Auburn in a ranked on-ranked matchup.

Later in the non-conference schedule, the Cougars will face No. 2 Alabama. Alabama was one of the best offenses in the entire country last season and returned a bunch of that production. It will be a real matchup to watch to see what gives, Alabama’s high-octane offense or Houston’s lockdown defense.

Defense typically plays a huge factor when the postseason hits and that’s a major reason for Houston’s success in March. However, they haven’t had much success. The Cougars haven’t gotten to the Final Four since 2021 despite consistently being a very same team.

This could be the year it changes with a couple of better recruits than normal while returning a big chunk of the production from a season ago.

Houston’s lockdown defense will have to go through the gauntlet that has been created with the Big 12 to be able to see if it can survive in the NCAA Tournament. Teams looking at potential matchups closer to March should not want to see this Cougars squad that can cause so many problems on defense.

Andrew Deal is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email asd5765@psu.edu.