By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
With starting center Josh Ojianwuna out for the year with a knee injury, Baylor struggled to contain Houston Monday night at the Fertitta Center. The No. 6-ranked Cougars forced 15 turnovers in a commanding 76-65 victory.
Down its only 7-foot rotation player, Baylor’s lack of size was put on display early. Out of the gate, the Bears shaded a full-court press on defense before settling back into a variation of a 1-3-1 zone. That made the man in the middle, freshman point guard Robert O Wright III (6-foot-1, 183 pounds), the de facto defender on Houston forward Joseph Tugler (6-foot-7, 230 pounds), who camped out in the high post.
Wright was aggressive at the point of attack. He was filling a role typically played by a wing with a longer wingspan — and indeed, freshman wing VJ Edgecombe spent time there — but generally held up well given the circumstances.
Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars aren’t the biggest team in the Big 12, but they might be the most physical. Led by J’Wan Roberts (6-foot-7, 7-foot-2 wingspan), Houston is ranked 21st nationally in offensive rebounding despite not having a single starter taller than 6-foot-7. They’re in the top five in the Big 12 in rebounds, blocks and steals.
That length and defensive havoc created lots of easy points: in the first half alone, Houston outscored Baylor 13-4 off turnovers and 10-0 on second-chance points. But the Cougars’ real offensive weapon, perhaps fittingly for Houston, is launching from long range. The Big 12’s leaders in 3-point percentage (37.1%) continued their onslaught Monday, shooting 10-for-24 from beyond the arc.
Baylor struggled to find its footing offensively, enduring a five-minute field goal drought in the first half and a seven-minute drought in the second. It wasn’t an issue of making shots but rather taking them, leading scorers Norchad Omier, Langston Love and Edgecombe to tally a combined 48 points on an eye-popping 18-for-21 shooting.
The rest of the Bears scored a respectable 17 points on 17 shots, but the team also combined to turn the ball over 15 times, allowing Houston to take 15 additional shots. That field goal attempt deficit proved too much to overcome.
For the second consecutive game, Omier played 37 minutes as Drew and the Bears continued to search for answers at the backup center position in Ojianwuna’s absence. Omier, fifth-year point guard Jeremy Roach and wing Jalen Celestine all earned four whistles, another testament to the team’s depth issues.
The Bears held it within eight at halftime, 38-30, but gave up a second-half blitz to fall down 71-46. The Cougars’ 11-point coup de grâce was punctuated by a 3-pointer from former Baylor guard LJ Cryer, who finished with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
Baylor scored 19 points in the final 5:22, but it was too little, too late. Houston breezed to a 76-65 victory at the Fertitta Center, knocking the Bears to 7-6 in Big 12 play. They will have the rest of the week to regroup before hosting West Virginia (15-8, 6-6 Big 12) at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Foster Pavilion.
