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The Houston Cougars rebounded and rebranded themselves champions on Christmas.
In a battle of two young, explosive teams, Houston of the American Athletic Conference became the first “UH” to win the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship with a 75-71 defeat of No. 21 Washington at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Houston had heavy roster turnover from its run to the NCAA Sweet 16 in March, but these Cougar cubs are steadily picking up where the former leaders left off for the pros. They pounced on seemingly every big rebound up for grabs in the final minutes, keeping the ball away from UW’s impressive forward Isaiah Stewart just enough.
“We played to our identity. Our culture kicked in,” coach Kelvin Sampson said.
Houston (10-3) trailed by 14 late in the first half but cut that down to five at halftime and turned the endgame into a test of will.
The Cougars crashed the glass with abandon, effectively tearing at the seams of the Huskies’ 2-3 zone. They were plus-10 (17-7) on second-chance points.
“We made a couple quick adjustments on getting the ball below the free-throw line, versus above it,” Sampson said. “We started playing to the corners. Our offensive execution in the second half was excellent.”
Junior forward Fabian White Jr. was named tournament MVP after scoring 19 points. He had a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double in a 70-59 semifinal win over Georgia Tech.
Caleb Mills also finished with 19 points and backcourt mate Quentin Grimes (14 points) went 6-for-6 at the line in the final 24 seconds to ice the victory.
“We’re better than people say we are and we’re better than we think we are,” said White, the lone starter back from last year’s 33-4 team.
The Cougars rank in the top five in the country in rebounding margin and offensive rebounding. They averaged 15.3 offensive boards for the tournament.
“Rebounding’s been our identity from the jump,” White said. “Especially during the summer, we’ve got that bubble on the rim where the ball can’t even go in the goal. We practice rebounding for hours and hours.”
The best player on the floor was Washington’s Stewart, who scored 25 with eight rebounds. He muscled his way to three-point plays twice in the final 5:36 — and had 10 straight points for his team — to give the Huskies (10-3) a chance.
He rejected Grimes with under two minutes left, but Houston, true to form, got it back and Mills put in a tough rainbow floater over Stewart’s outstretched arm.
“(Stewart) is an elite player, no getting around that and other guys on our team gotta step up,” UW coach Mike Hopkins said. “We got some good opportunities, we missed some easy shots and at the end there was some hustle plays, second-chance baskets, full clocks, dribble-penetration and you can’t allow that to happen.”
Boise State 72, UTEP 67
The Broncos (8-5) got 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists from guard Derrick Alston to take fifth place with a win over the Miners (9-4). Forward Abu Kigab added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Daryl Edwards led UTEP with 14 points.
Ball State 61, Portland 46
The Cardinals (7-6) claimed seventh place by overcoming a poor shooting game (33.9%) with 17 offensive rebounds. Guard Ishmael El-Amin led Ball State with 18 points on 4-for-8 3-point shooting and BSU pulled away from the Pilots (8-7).
Tahirou Diabate had 12 points for Portland.
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DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC
All-Tournament Team
>> Derrick Alston, Boise State
>> Quentin Grimes, Houston
>> Isaiah Stewart, Washington
>> Moses Wright, Georgia Tech
>> MVP: Fabian White, Jr., Houston
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