Houston @ Tulsa preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 27, 2019 ) Houston 77, Tulsa 65

It is no coincidence that Houston began its six-game win streak when head coach Kelvin Sampson inserted redshirt freshman Caleb Mills guard into the starting lineup. Mills matched a career-high with 23 points Tuesday in a 78-74 road victory over Temple and the Cougars will look to remain undefeated during American Athletic Conference play when they visit Tulsa on Saturday.

Mills had arguably his worst performance of the season in Houston’s AAC opener as the rookie finished with two points on 1-of-8 shooting in a 78-63 win over Central Florida on Jan. 3, but followed that up Tuesday with a 9-of-16 showing - the best single-game shooting percentage (56.3) of his young career. Sophomore guard Quentin Grimes was held to four points against the Owls but still leads the Cougars with 14.1 points per game while Mills is averaging 15.3 over his last eight games. If there is a silver lining to be had from Tulsa’s first road test of its AAC schedule against Cincinnati Wednesday, it’s that the Golden Hurricane were only outscored by a 36-34 margin in the paint despite suffering a 75-44 defeat - their most lopsided of the season. For the first time since 2015, Tulsa on Wednesday missed all its 3-point attempts (17) and no player hit double figures in scoring as senior forward Martins Igabanu came off the bench to net a team-high nine points.

TIME: 4 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT HOUSTON (12-3, 2-0 AAC): Sophomore Nate Hinton recorded one double-double in 37 games as a freshman but registered his team-leading seventh against Temple with 10 points and 13 rebounds in a team-high 36 minutes. Hinton’s 9.9 rebounds per game paces one of the country’s elite teams on the glass as Houston ranks first nationally in offensive rebounds per game (15.4) and rebound margin (plus-11.9), and are second in rebounds per game (43.7). Seven Houston opponents this season have failed to grab 32 rebounds in an entire game but the Cougars managed that total in the first half against the Owls on their way to a season-high 54 boards.

ABOUT TULSA (9-6, 1-1): Junior guard Brandon Rachal leads the team with 14.3 points and 6.7 rebounds, but was held to eight points on 3-of-12 shooting against the Bearcats with three steals. The Golden Hurricane were outrebounded 46-29 against the Bearcats - 28-10 in the second half - and sit ninth out of 12 AAC teams with 36.8 rebounds per game. Junior forward Jeriah Horne sits second on the squad with 11.4 points per game while junior guard Elijah Joiner is averaging a team-best 3.3 assists per contest.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Cougars C Chris Harris Jr. had his first double-double in his 62nd collegiate game as the senior registered 11 points and 12 rebounds off the bench Tuesday against Temple.

2. Rachal and Horne combined to shoot 0-for-10 from 3-point range against Cincinnati after the pair hit 7-of-14 from downtown in Tulsa’s 70-44 conference-opening loss to Temple.

3. Houston has won the last five contests against Tulsa, but the all-time series is tied at 27 wins apiece.

PREDICTION: Houston 76, Tulsa 59