Houston forward Jarace Walker’s 18-foot fade-away jump shot off the right baseline was an exclamation point. It gave Houston a 61-50 lead with 1:42 remaining and the Cougars then went 8 of 9 from the foul line over the last 1:25 to hand Virginia its first loss of the season, 69-61.
He also had a lay-in and a free throw and a three-pointer off the left wing to start the second half as the Cougars’ stretched a 30-26 halftime lead to 40-30 with 16:05 remaining in the game. This followed two scores near the end of the first half that allowed him to operate as the key option on offense.
“There’s a misconception about confidence,” said Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson. “Players have to give coaches confidence. If I have confidence in you, I can’t give you confidence. Now you know it’s real. It’s not false.”
Walker’s confidence and his dominance gave Houston that upper hand at halftime and it was something that he would not lose as he made 6 of 11 field goals, including a pair of three-pointers.
“When Jarace got here in June, he came willing to learn and I kept telling him about the importance of failure,” said Sampson. “We prepare our kids to know it’s OK to fail. Just listen to us and that’s difficult to do. He couldn’t have played today a month ago.”
Walker is a 6-8, 240-pound freshman from Bradenton, Fla., who was rated a five-star recruit by ESPN.com as he was the No. 10 player nationally in ESPN’s Top 100.
In scoring 17 points, Walker nailed a pair of threes as he did earlier in the season against Oregon. If Walker develops the three-pointer to where it is a factor in every game, it will change the matchups in how opponents play him.
“We played at Oregon and that was an OK game,” noted Sampson. “Today was much better because we are learning how to use him. He is learning how to play to his body. When he got here, he was 6-8, 240, but he played like he was 6-6, 190.”
Walker had to realize his physicality and how he could use it to make him a better player. Sampson said the biggest key was for Walker to play through the contact.
“He really is a good passer and that’s why I encourage him to make plays that we get him in,” said Sampson.
Walker and Jamal Shead had four assists each as Sampson explained a key play where Walker came up strong with an assist.
“We put Virginia in an elbow-to-elbow, big-on-big screen and we rolled a big and he hit him early and I think he got a layup or a dunk or whatever,” said Sampson.
Walker is in his first year at Houston and with that, he is learning the offense quickly and playing at a high level. Against Virginia, he could be in generally any situation and the Cougars would cash in on a positive factor.
“He came back and passed it to Reggie’s (Chaney) shoestrings on the turnover and he was talking about our sight,” said Sampson. “Instead of getting on him or getting negative toward him, you have got to encourage him to do that.”
Defensive Struggle: Houston and Virginia are noted as two of the top defensive teams in the nation. The Cougars lead the nation in allowing only 32.4 percent from the field and 50.3 points per game.
“I think they are physically tough and mentally tough,” explained Virginia head coach Tony Bennett. “In games like this and at this level, that’s just the entry-level playing hard with your heart, trying to be physical, but the separator is ‘Are you trying to be rock solid mentally and refuse to have breakdowns?’”
Defensively, Virginia gives up 40.4 percent (79th/CBB) and 59.1 points (16th/CBB).
“Virginia is one of those teams that is difficult for freshmen to play against because they are so good at angles whether it is a baseline pin down or (Jayden) Gardner quickly goes to his right side and draws fouls,” said Sampson.
Houston shot 49 percent on the afternoon as the Cougars made 25 of 51 field goals with Walker leading the starting five in double figures with those 17 points.
