Houston Christian @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 16, 2014 ) Houston Baptist 76, Houston 83

It has been an up and down start for Houston, preseason favorites in the American Athletic Conference, as the team lost a heart-breaker against BYU before beating Rice and then falling to a ranked Oregon team. The Cougars will return home for five of their next six games, starting with Tuesday's date with inner-city opponent Houston Baptist.

The Cougars have boasted a great deal of depth, with four players averaging double-figures. But it has been younger players leading the way including sophomore Quentin Grimes and redshirt freshman Caleb Mills, who head coach Kelvin Sampson has called the most talented player he's ever recruited to the school. "I have to be a little patient. I'm not very good at that. But I know I have to be," Sampson told the Houston Chronicle of watching his players grow. As for the Huskies, they have struggled to keep defenses from higher-level schools in check, letting up more than 90 points in three of their four contests.

TV: 8 p.m. ET., No TV

ABOUT HOUSTON BAPTIST (0-4): Senior Jalon Gates leads the way for the Huskies, averaging 19.3 points and shooting 41 percent from 3-point range. The team as a whole shoots 34 percent from beyond the arc, thanks to sophomore guard Qon Murphy connecting on 45 percent of his attempts off the bench. Rounding out the backcourt trio is junior Ian DuBose, who has averaged 16.3 points, essentially in line with his performance as a sophomore in 2018-2019, when he averaged 17.0 points.

ABOUT HOUSTON (2-2): Grimes, who started every game as a freshman at Kansas in 2018-2019, averages 15.8 points, highlighted by a 32-point performance against Rice. Mills, who comes off the bench, dropped 21 points in the loss at Oregon in just his third career game. Forward Fabian White Jr. and guard DeJon Jarreau, two of the team's more experienced players, both average double-figures with White knocking down 57 percent of his shots.

TIP-INS

1. Houston has had five players reach double-figures in a game twice this season.

2. Since 2015-2016, the Cougars are 62-10 at home.

3. Houston Baptist has just one home game in its non-conference schedule.

PREDICTION: Houston 90, Houston Baptist 67