A white-knuckle, double-overtime victory at Kansas on Saturday nudged Houston up the national rankings and extended its winning streak to 12 games.
The sixth-ranked Cougars (16-3, 8-0 Big 12) will look for another conference road win Wednesday at West Virginia (13-6, 4-4), which has dropped back-to-back contests following a rousing home win over then-No. 2 Iowa State on Jan. 18 in Morgantown, W.Va.
Winning at Kansas typically is a noteworthy feat. But the Cougars have in recent years established a program on par with the bluest of blue bloods, and their run of successful seasons makes it easy to move on to the next game of the schedule and not linger in the recent past.
“What is it about that game that has anything to do with the next one? (That’s) never been part of my thought process,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “We do what we do after all games. We don’t spend any more time on it based on who we played.
“The biggest game of the year for us is West Virginia. The game that we just played is in the rearview mirror.”
The Cougars climbed one spot in the rankings after the 92-86 win over the Jayhawks and remain atop the Big 12 standings, a half-game ahead of Arizona.
Houston again showcased its ample depth at Kansas, with complementary players Milos Uzan (17 points, nine rebounds, nine assists) and Mylik Wilson (18 points, six rebounds) enjoying breakout performances while its leading scorers this season — L.J. Cryer and Emanuel Sharp — combined for just 17 points on 4-for-20 shooting.
Houston defeated visiting West Virginia 70-54 on Jan. 15. The Mountaineers’ recent woes haven’t offset concerns over the challenges of winning on the road in conference play again.
“This team won at Kansas,” Sampson said. “This team beat Iowa State. This team beat Arizona. I’m a lot more worried about the team than the venue. It’s their team that I’m most focused on.”
West Virginia fell into an early 17-point hole against Kansas State and never recovered en route to a 73-60 road loss on Saturday. Javon Small led the Mountaineers with 22 points, his ninth 20-point effort of the season.
A Dec. 31 victory at Kansas was part of a seven-game winning streak that West Virginia carried into the new year.
However, the Mountaineers have since dropped four of their last six games, with the highlight victory over the Cyclones doing little to help them reestablish the momentum they generated late last month.
“Like I told (the players), this is a good league,” West Virginia coach Darian DeVries said. “People have a bad game or two, and you can’t let it turn into four or five. We’re going to … get ready for a huge home game against Houston on Wednesday. We’re back at our place against a top 10 team in the country, and I know our guys will be ready to go and I’m sure our crowd will be ready to go as well.”
