On Thursday afternoon, Houston and SIU Edwardsville kicked off the Midwest Regional in Wichita, Kansas.
Kelvin Sampson and the Houston Cougars faced off against Brian Barone and the SIU Edwardsville Cougars in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The game got out of hand quickly, with Houston establishing their will over the Cougars on both ends of the court. In typical Kelvin Sampson fashion, Houston took care of business and is moving on to the Round of 32.
With that, here are the top three takeaways from Houston’s 78-40 win over the Cougars.
Business As Usual
In a game in which the Cougars were favored by 28 points, naturally, Houston won by 38.
The Cougars dominated the game in just about every category, including field goal percentage, three-point percentage, free throw percentage, total rebounds, blocks, steals, turnovers, points off turnovers, fewer fouls, and just about any other metric imaginable.
In addition to incredible performance, one of the game’s best aspects came due to Houston amounting a massive first-half lead. The Cougars led 52-24 at the halftime break, and because of that, Sampson was able to give his starters some rest to preserve their energy for a deep tournament run.
J’Wan’s Back
While Houston fans entered the game slightly on edge due to the health status of J’Wan Roberts, the senior forward returned to the starting lineup after missing the Big 12 Championship Game vs. Arizona.
On Saturday, Roberts was seen sporting a boot on the Cougars’ bench, leading to some social media concern for college basketball fans.
That situation was put to bed quickly as Roberts posted six points and three rebounds in his return. The stat line is somewhat misleading, however, as Roberts received a nice long break in the blowout win, as starters rested the final 12 minutes of regulation.
Time For the Tough Draw
Now that the Cougars have dealt with SIUE, Houston awaits the winner of No. 8 Gonzaga and No. 9 Georgia.
While not every matchup between an eight and a nine seed poses a potential threat for the top-ranked team in a certain region, that cannot be said for the Midwest, as the average NET Ranking for Gonzaga and Houston is 20.5. For reference, the South’s 8-9 matchup has a NET average of 31, followed by the East at 32, and the West at 37.5.
The first-round matchup between Gonzaga and Georgia tips off at 3:35 p.m. central on Thursday, March 20th.
