Houston basketball may have won the battle with their March Madness-opening 63-52 win over Northern Kentucky on Thursday night, but the war just got a whole lot more difficult. The Cougars were already dealing with an injury to their best player Marcus Sasser, who played through the ailment but had to be pulled at the half. Now, with Sasser's status up in the air, Houston basketball also received an injury blow to another guard, Jamal Shead.
Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson spoke to CBS Sports' Tracy Wolfson after the March Madness win, telling the reporter that he is ‘concerned‘ about the Shead and Sasser injuries.
Not good. Sasser, who is dealing with a groin injury, and Shead, who suffered a knee injury on Thursday night, are two of Houston basketball's most important starters.
Many pundits picked a healthy Cougars team to win the entire March Madness tourney. Some still gave the team a puncher's chance with a limited Sasser.
But if Shead, who averaged 10.4 points per game during the season while posting a team-high 1.8 steals per game, is unable to play, Houston basketball may as well kiss their March Madness title hopes goodbye.
Fortunately, the Cougars had other players, like Jarace Walker and Emanuel Sharp, step up to get the win over the 16-seed Northern Kentucky.
Unfortunately, the road is about to get a lot bumpier for Houston basketball.
An experienced and resilient Auburn team led by Bruce Pearl awaits in the second round.
Cougars fans had better hope that at least one of Sasser and Shead can get healthy in time for the March Madness clash.
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