In a first weekend full of madness and surprises across the NCAA men’s tournament, the Houston Cougars defended their No. 1 seed status in commanding fashion against the Longwood Lancers to advance ahead to the Round of 32.
UH dominated the scoresheet early. The Cougars scored the game’s first ten points largely on the back of senior guard LJ Cryer, who drained two three-pointers on the way to Houston setting the tone of the game.
Shooting struggles from the Cougars early gave the Lancers the chance to keep the game from getting away from them.
After missing nine games due to injury, junior guard Ramon Walker Jr returned to the court for Houston in the first half after an initial expectation of being out for the remainder of the season.