Houston Coach Kelvin Sampson Shares Thoughts On BYU Basketball
Jan 3, 2025, 2:51 PM | Updated: Jan 6, 2025, 2:43 pm
BYU basketball is set to take on No. 14 Houston in the Fertitta Center on Saturday.
The matchup is a barometer for Kevin Young’s 10-2 BYU squad. They face a Houston program that has become a second-weekend fixture in college hoops, reaching the Sweet 16 or farther in the last five NCAA Tournaments.
The Coogs in “Clutch City” have been dominant on their home floor. BYU will look to end a nation’s best 29-game home winning streak for Houston.
BYU basketball will take on No. 14 Houston on Saturday in the Fertitta Center.
Houston has the nation's longest home winning streak at 29 games.
Since the Fertitta Center opened in 2018, Houston has a record of 100-6 in that building.
BYU has one of those six victories (2019,…
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 3, 2025
Head Coach Kelvin Sampson has led Houston through their climb back among the nation’s elite since 2014. Last year, he led the Coogs to a regular season Big 12 championship with a 13-3 record.
Kelvin Sampson weighs in on BYU Basketball
In preparation for Saturday’s game against BYU, Sampson spoke to the media and shared his thoughts on Kevin Young’s team.
“Their length in the backcourt, I think, is excellent with (Egor) Demin and the (Kanon) Catchings kid. They’re both around 6-9. They are long and very skilled. They both can get 20 in different ways,” Sampson said. “Catchings is a threat behind the three-point line. Demin, as a decision-maker, is really good at hitting rollers and really good at hitting the opposite corner. They’re extremely well-coached and very disciplined.
“I think part of their strength is they have two fives: (Fousseyni) Traore and (Keba) Keita. They have different strengths. Keita is probably a better shot blocker, probably a better vertical athlete. Traore is more of a traditional low-post player, who can catch and score it. But they complement each other so well. Then, BYU is the number one defensive rebounding team, so it’s hard to get offensive rebounds against them.”
BYU is outrebounding opponents by 13.2 boards per game. In the Big 12 opening win at home against Arizona State, BYU outrebounded the Sun Devils 38-28.
Along with praising BYU’s new personnel, Sampson is impressed with the returning talent on BYU’s roster.
Returning talent on BYU
BYU faced Houston early last season in Big 12 play at the Marriott Center. With 2:20 left in the game, the Cougars in blue were tied with Houston at 68, but Sampson’s Coogs closed on a 7-0 run to win 75-68 and earn their first road win in Big 12 action.
big Richie fans… can you tell? pic.twitter.com/T2lCbJRGPG
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) January 3, 2025
Four BYU players from that game last season will be in action against the veteran Houston squad that brings back four of its five starters from last year’s meeting.
“They have a lot of kids on their team that can get 20 to 30 on any given night. Their fives are positioned really well for their team. They’ve got two pros on their team in Catchings and Demin, but (Dallin) Hall, it’s Hall and (Richie) Saunders and (Trevin) Knell. All of those guys can really shoot. They’re dangerous,” said Sampson.
“This is a team that went on the road last year and won some big games. And they lost some games where they dominated for 25, 30, 35 minutes, and lost at the end–great win at Kansas. They’ve got a lot of those same guys back. And they’ve added some really good talent. So BYU is good. I think that’s their baseline. I think they’ve got a chance to be really good as the season goes along.”
BYU vs. Houston: How To Watch, Listen
Date: Saturday, January 4, 2025
Tip-Off: Noon (MST) / 1 p.m. (CST)
TV/Stream: ESPN+
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
