Houston, on the heels of one of its best regular seasons in decades, opens the postseason when it squares off against Central Florida on Friday in one of four quarterfinals in the American Athletic Conference Championship at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.
The No. 21 Cougars (24-6) are seeded third after finishing in a tie for second in the AAC after being picked sixth in the preseason. Houston's campaign included wins over ranked teams Cincinnati and Wichita State, the teams seeded above it in this tournament. They've yet to lose consecutive games this season.
With an RPI of 19, Houston is poised to make its 20th NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and only the second since 1992. But coach Kelvin Sampson wants his team to focus on the conference tournament and not look ahead to the Big Dance.
"I want our guys to enjoy this week of preparation and playing in our conference tournament," said Sampson, who this week was named 2018 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
"We had a great conference season this year. For this team to finish second is a great accomplishment. The NCAA tournament is going to be a great experience, too, and we will cross that bridge when we get to it."
Houston is among the national leaders in defense and has outrebounded all but five opponents this season. The lineup, led by first-team all-conference guard Rob Gray, makes its money with the 3-point shot.
"It's been so long since the university has been ranked and in the tournament each year," Gray said. "We're just getting started. We want to make this a trend that's normal for the University of Houston basketball program."
Gray (18.1 points, 4.7 assists) ranks as the AAC's career scoring leader, stands at No. 10 among the Cougars' all-time scoring greats and is among the league's top four in scoring and rebounding.
Sophomore guard Armoni Brooks was named the ACC's Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 10.2 points and joins with junior guard Corey Davis Jr. among the nation's top 25 in 3-point field goal percentage, making Houston the only team in the country with that distinction.
"I don't think we can relax," Houston forward Devin Davis said. "We've got to stay hungry. Especially with this conference tournament coming up. We believe we can win, so we've got to stay humble and hungry."
UCF earned a spot opposite Houston via a 66-52 victory over East Carolina on Thursday in a AAC tournament first-round game. B.J. Taylor led the Knights (19-12) with 17 points while A.J. Davis added 14 points, Chad Brown took 10 rebounds in the win.
The Knights broke open a close game with a late 18-1 run. UCF finished sixth in the regular-season conference standings and is the No. 6 seed at the tournament.
"The big thing for us is that nothing works without energy and effort, and we give it every game," Taylor said. "We've dealt with a turn of adversity this season and all those help us be ready for the things we are seeing now.
"We will have to bring our best game tomorrow to beat Houston but we feel like we can play with anyone on a given night."
Taylor leads UCF with 15.6 points per game while A.J. Davis ranks second on the team with 12.4 points and tops the Knights with 7.7 rebounds.
Johnny Dawkins is in his second season as coach at UCF and his 10th season overall as an NCAA collegiate head coach. He has compiled a 43-24 record at UCF and is 199-139 during his career.
