Kelvin Sampson "Not Making Excuses" Following Iowa State Loss
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The No. 2 Houston Cougars saw their six-game winning streak come to a screeching halt Monday night against the Iowa State Cyclones in a close-knit 70-67 battle, bringing both teams to 23-3 on the year.
Kingston Flemings led the Coogs with 22 points and Chris Cenac Jr. added seven points 12 rebounds, but the Cyclones took the lead with a little over a minute left and never surrendered it again.
Despite the loss, the Cougars still sit atop the Big 12 standings by 0.5 games over the Arizona Wildcats, boasting one more win in conference play.
"We Had Our Opportunities"
During his postgame press conference, Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson gave his thoughts on the gameplay and was very adamant on not giving any excuses for the loss.
"These are two really good teams," Sampson said. "I'm not going to sit up here and make excuses. That's not what we do at Houston. We had our opportunities. I thought a big exchange was when we missed the winning one and then (Nate) Heise makes the three in the corner with 2:00 on the clock, that's how you win. That's also how you lose."
Sampson also gave his props to Iowa State forward Milan Momcilovic and his skill, saying that his guys did all they could do to contain him.
"We had a good plan, I'm not gonna take everything away from us," said the head coach. "I think we did as good a job as you can do with Momcilovic, his length and his range, and I thought that our guys did a good job there."
The numbers certainly show that statement to be true, as Momcilovic only finished with eight points, his first game with single-digit points since January 7 in Iowa State's win over Baylor.
The head coach refused to take anything away from the Cyclones team, acknowledging their skill, as well as his own team's effort on the road in Ames, but was overall simply disappointed that the Cougars couldn't make the most of their opportunity.
"Iowa State's good, it's not an easy place to come and win," Sampson said. "But you put yourself in the position and it's disappointing. I'm disappointed that we didn't win, but I'm not disappointed in our effort. Our kids try hard. It's just stepping up and making the plays that you need to make. They did tonight, and we didn't, so give them credit."
The Coogs return to Houston Saturday afternoon to host the Arizona Wildcats, another top 10-ranked opponent, and another opportunity to build their national championship contender stock as March Madness slowly begins to come into focus.
