Houston Cougars Reach Historic Unwanted Streak After Loss to Kansas
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The Houston Cougars have hit a major roadblock down the stretch of the regular season, as the Cougars have hit a three-game skid. The Coogs are dropping some of their toughest games on the schedule with losses to No. 4 Iowa State, No. 2 Arizona, and No. 14 Kansas, all of whom Houston faced within a couple of days.
The Coogs began the three-game rut with what was a close 70-67 loss against the Cyclones on the road last Monday before returning home to take on the Wildcats, and dropped that game 73-66, and finally their latest loss came to the Jayhawks, falling 69-56 on Monday night.
Houston now sits with a 23-5 record on the season, an 11-4 record in conference play, sitting just two games behind first place in the Big 12 standings, and has dropped to No. 5 in the AP Poll. A three-game losing streak doesn't happen too often for the Coogs, with the last occurrence happening nearly a decade ago.
When's the Last time Houston Lost Three Straight?
While three losses in a row are common for some other basketball programs in the country, for head coach Kelvin Sampson's program, however its not one, as the last time the Coogs lost three straight home games was nine years ago, coming all the way back in the 2016-17 season.
The season that dates nearly a decade ago, Sampson was just in his third year as the Coogs' head coach, as he was hired ahead of the 2014-15 season, and Houston still played in the American Athletic Conference, now known as the American.
With a look back at those three losses, the parallels are oddly similar to Houston's current three-game losing streak, with the three straight losses all coming against conference opponents, two of which were on the road and one of which was at home.
In those three losses for the Coogs, they'd begin with a road loss to the UCF Knights, falling 77-70 before heading back to their home arena, the Hofheinz Pavilion, and losing a close 70-67 overtime thriller to the Memphis Tigers, and capped off the streak with an 85-64 loss against the SMU Mustangs.
Houston got out of that rut with a home 65-51 victory over the Tulane Green Wave to get back on track, and similarly, the Coogs have a chance to get out of this ongoing skid with a home matchup against the Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday.
The NCAA Tournament is quickly approaching, as the Coogs will have to bounce back with three final games remaining in the regular season against the Buffaloes, Baylor, and finally Oklahoma State, as well as the Big 12 Tournament, which Houston will need to pad its resume heading into March.
