Houston men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson relished the opportunity his Cougars had to face Utah on Friday afternoon in the Charleston Classic semifinals.
While No. 6 Houston was tested by the Runnin’ Utes, his Cougars prevailed, 76-66, by imposing their defensive will and coming up with a key run late after Utah tied the contest with seven minutes to play.
“A game like today is what tournament play is about,” Sampson told ESPN postgame.
For Utah, the contest was a learning experience, one the Utes (3-1) will have the chance to almost immediately grow from when they face St. John’s on Sunday in the Classic’s third-place game (3:30 p.m. MST, ESPN).
“Houston is really good obviously, and the good news is we get to turn around and play a really good team again. We can’t hang our heads too much — that’s the good thing about playing in tournaments like these,” said Utah senior guard Gabe Madsen, who scored a career-high 29 points in the loss to Houston.
Madsen’s ability to shake off a tough night — a lesson that symbolically can work for the team ahead of the matchup with St. John’s — was on display during the tournament’s first two days.
In Utah’s Classic-opening win over Wake Forest, Madsen scored 7 points and made just 3 of 10 field goals.
Less than 24 hours later, he followed that up by putting up 29 on 10 of 19 shooting, including 8 of 15 from 3-point range.
“That just comes from experience. There’s going to be ups and downs in the season. Experienced players are going to realize you gotta keep going,” Madsen said of his ability to bounce back so quickly from a poor offensive night.
“It’s a player’s dream playing in tournaments like these — no practice, you get to turn around and play the next day. If you get a little sour taste from a poor shooting night, you play right away the next day,” he said.
What awaits the Utes now is a contest against a Red Storm team led by legendary coach Rick Pitino.
St. John’s (2-2) edged North Texas by one point in its Charleston Classic opener, then lost to Dayton by eight in the other Charleston Classic semifinal on Friday.
While the Red Storm have plenty of new faces — Pitino brought in 12 new players, including 10 transfers, in his first season as the team’s coach — it’s returning talent that is pacing this year’s squad.
Senior center Joel Soriano is averaging 17.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game for St. John’s.
Against North Texas, Soriano’s two free throws with just over a minute to play lifted the Red Storm to the win. He had 11 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks in the game.
Soriano followed that performance with a 21-point, 9-rebound effort against Dayton.
“They’re hard to go against. They really, really grind you,” Utah coach Craig Smith said. “And obviously Coach Pitino is one heck of a coach.”
Houston held Utah to 35.8% shooting — not a surprise, considering the Cougars are one of the nation’s top defenses and lead the country in scoring defense — and turned 15 Utes turnovers into 19 points.
Sampson liked what he saw from a Utah team trying to break a seven-year NCAA Tournament drought — the Utes also got 17 points from senior center Branden Carlson and Utah rallied from 14 down at one point to tie the game at 56-all before Houston put the game away with a 12-2 spurt.
“They’re going to have a tremendous year. (Smith) has a good team,” Sampson said of the Runnin’ Utes.
Utah didn’t dig far into its bench against the Cougars — the Utes played just eight, and that didn’t include 6-foot-8 big man Keba Keita, who Smith said missed Friday’s game with an undisclosed injury. He’s doubtful for Sunday’s game.
“We played a certain amount of guys a lot of minutes and guys who haven’t played a whole lot — Luka (Tarlac), Jake (Wahlin), Jayden Teat — they’ve got to be ready when their number is called because we’re going to need everybody,” Smith said.
Following the game against St. John’s, Utah won’t play again until after Thanksgiving in its lone true road game of nonconference play at Saint Mary’s on Monday, Nov. 27.
Before that, though, lies the opportunity to leave South Carolina with another win — one that could come against a Red Storm team currently ranked No. 81 in the KenPom ratings.
“It would be a lot better feeling leaving with a win against St. John’s, so we’ve got to turn around quickly here and get ready for them,” Madsen said.
Smith wants to see the same competitive spirit he’s gotten out of Utah through the first two games of the Classic.
“You’ve got to play with an elite, competitive spirit. We’ve got to really trust one another — I truly believe we trust one another,” Smith said of his squad.
“The message is a little bit different each night, but stay together, have an elite, competitive spirit, play with joy and passion.”
