No. 2 Houston, No. 8 Kansas each seek bounce backs in marquee matchup
Houston has dropped consecutive games but coach Kelvin Sampson isn't the least bit worried.
The No. 2 Cougars - who will drop in the rankings Monday afternoon - look to end their short slide when they face No. 8 Kansas in Big 12 play at Lawrence, Kan. on Monday evening.
Houston (23-4, 11-3 Big 12) lost to No. 6 Iowa State on Feb. 16 and No. 4 Arizona on Saturday in back-to-back Big 12 showdowns.
"Don't overreact to your losses," Sampson said after Saturday's 73-66 loss to the Wildcats in Tucson, Ariz. "You're going to have losses. This may not be our last loss in conference. This conference is good."
The Cougars lost 70-67 at Iowa State on Feb. 16 in the first major clash. Kansas would make it three straight Top-10 matchups, except the Jayhawks are about to plummet in the rankings after getting hammered 84-68 by visiting Cincinnati on Saturday.
Of course, Kansas could bounce back big from the shellacking.
"Losing has never bothered me that much," Sampson said. "Because losing is part of the journey. You're going to lose games. We win around here so much that sometimes (people) forget we can lose too."
The Jayhawks (20-7, 10-4) have dropped two of their past three games. Kansas lost 74-56 at Iowa State on Feb. 14 before bouncing back for an 81-69 victory over host Oklahoma State on Wednesday.
But the Jayhawks were soundly beaten by the Bearcats, who are just 7-7 in Big 12 play. Kansas was outrebounded 40-29 and made just 4 of 18 shots from 3-point range, while Cincinnati was knocking down 12 of 31 perimeter shots.
Big man Flory Bidunga, who led Kansas with 18 points and 12 rebounds, said the Jayhawks took the Bearcats lightly.
"I would guess that we didn't respect them," Bidunga said. "Obviously, the Big 12 is one of the greatest leagues. And then, obviously, we should have respected them more than what we did. And I feel like we didn't."
Kansas coach Bill Self didn't agree with Bidunga's opinion but he couldn't dispute that this club was severely whipped.
"Things happen, and you've got to stay together," Self said. "I think that we will, without question. They're great kids. But we weren't competitive (Saturday), and the message is, ‘If you can't make other people play poorly, no matter where you're playing, it could be a long afternoon or evening.'
"And that's exactly what happened. We didn't do anything to get them out of rhythm."
Much-maligned Darryn Peterson played 32 minutes but was just 1-of-7 from 3-point range while scoring 17 points. As he's allegedly been bothered by cramping issues, Peterson has reached 20 points just once in his past seven appearances despite playing over 30 minutes in four of those games.
"I actually thought that, for the most part, he moved pretty well," Self said of Peterson.
Peterson has a team-best 19.8-point scoring average and leads the squad with 45 3-pointers despite playing in just 16 games. Bidunga averages 14.6 points, a team-best 9.3 rebounds and leads the Big 12 with 74 blocked shots. Tre White averages 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds, and Melvin Council Jr. produces 13.6 points per outing.
Houston has defeated Kansas three straight times, including twice last season.
The Cougars had rattled off six straight victories before the setbacks against Iowa State and Arizona.
Veteran guard Milos Uzan simplified how Houston needs to move on from the defeats.
"I think it's super important to stay together and try to learn from your losses," Uzan said.
Kingston Flemings, who scored 17 points against Arizona, leads Houston in scoring (16.6) and assists (5.2). Emanuel Sharp averages 16.4 points to go with a team-leading 74 treys, and Uzan contributes 11.1 points and 4.1 assists per game.