Talking Key Playmakers for the No. 7 Ranked Houston Cougars Basketball Team Before Playing at UCF

UCF Men’s Basketball has talented players to go against when Houston comes to Orlando this Saturday.

Author:
Marc Miceli
Publish date:
Jan 26, 2022 8:48 AM EST

Following the Knight’s matchup against Wichita State, the Knights will host the #7 ranked Houston Cougars at Addition Financial Arena on Saturday, November 29th at 7 pm. As of January 25th, the Cougars have the No. 4 ranked scoring defense and 3rd in opponent field goal percentage. Led by Head Coach Kelvin Sampson, the Cougars come into this matchup after blowing out the ECU Pirates by 43 points. Houston has 17 wins and 2 losses this year and are also undefeated against AAC Conference teams. This will be one of the Knights’ toughest opponents of the season. Houston wsa one of the teams that made it to the Final Four in last year’s NCAA Tournament.

Despite losing key members from last year’s team like Quentin Grimes and Dejon Jarreau to the NBA Draft, they also retained some players from last year’s Final Four team and gained new talent from the transfer portal. In addition, last month their leading scorer, guard Marcus Sasser, had been dealing with a toe injury and it was announced after their win against Texas State that he would miss the rest of the 2022 season. Since losing Sasser, the Cougars have come together and have not lost a game and they will look to continue that consistent level of play against the Knights. With that being said, here is some information on Houston’s key playmakers.

Kyler Edwards

After playing for Texas Tech for three seasons, Edwards transferred to Houston. Since Sasser’s injury, senior guard Edwards has become the team's leading scorer, averaging 14.4 points per game. Also, in their past three games, he has scored over 23 points while shooting 48.1% from the field. Not only is Edwards an effective scorer, but Edwards also has shown his ability to rebound and assist his teammates at a high level. In the Cougars’ first win against the USF Bulls, he recorded 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. His best game of this season came against the ECU Pirates where he recorded 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. Edwards did that while shooting 53.8% and knocking down six of 11 three-pointers.

Josh Carlton

In the Class of 2017, Carlton was a four-star recruit who played for the Connecticut Huskies for four seasons and then transferred to the Cougars last year. His 6’ 11” 245-pound frame gives the Cougars a great rebounder and interior defender. As both the Cougars’ leading rebounder and blocker, Carlton is averaging 11.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks while shooting 62.3% from the field. In back-to-back games against Wichita State and Tulsa, he recorded 4 blocks each game. In addition, against the USF Bulls, Carlton scored 30 points and added 11 rebounds. Against East Carolina, he drew multiple double teams and they tried to limit him but even then he still found a way to score 14 points on 7-12 shooting and adding three blocks.

During this past month, Carlton has become a key contributor for Houston and it will be interesting to see how UCF will limit his ability not only as a dominant inside scorer but also as an interior defender.

While commenting about Edwards on his own radio show on January 24th where he spoke about both the addition of Edwards, he said "When Kyler Edwards got here, he was a long way from where he is now. He has had some tough games along the way. He had to work and to sacrifice. It's not easy to be good." Sampson also spoke about adding Carlton where he said, "I knew that Josh Carlton would be a good fit for us. Josh gave us something we didn't have." Both Edwards and Carlton have stepped up in a major way since Sasser’s injury and it shows when you look at their stats from their past five games.

Fabian White Jr.

White has been with the Cougars for his entire college career. Coming from Humble, Texas in the Class of 2017 he was a four-star recruit with offers from schools including Houston, Arkansas, SMU, and TCU. At 6’ 8” 230 pounds, White Jr. has improved his game and even added a three-point shot into his repertoire this season which has helped him become a better overall player. This season, White Jr. is averaging 11 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 1.1 steals. Earlier this year against Temple, he recorded 15 points and added a career-high 14 rebounds. As for his defensive ability, White Jr. best showed it in the Cougars’ second matchup with the USF Bulls when he had 2 blocks and 2 steals while scoring 16 points. As a result of playing with the Cougars for his whole college career, he became the winningest player in Fertitta Center history with 44 wins and counting.

The Knights will need to limit mistakes as Houston is a very strong defensive team with playmakers that if given the opportunity, will make the Knights pay.

You can find me Twitter: @MarcMiceli_

More coverage: Facebook, YouTube, The Daily Knight podcast, Instagram, and Twitter - @fbscout_florida and @UCF_FanNation, Like and Subscribe!