The locker room inside the Fertitta Center was quieter than anyone in red and white wanted to admit.
For the third straight game, the Houston Cougars had walked off the floor without a win. The scoreboard above the court had long since gone dark, but the feeling lingered — heavy, stubborn, impossible to ignore.
Three losses.
That number didn’t sit right in Houston.
For a program built on grit and defense, for a team that prided itself on outworking everyone in the country, three straight felt like a crack in the foundation. The seniors sat with towels over their heads. The freshmen stared at the floor, replaying every missed rotation, every loose ball that slipped through their hands.
Coach didn’t yell. That’s what made it worse.
“We’re not losing because we’re unlucky,” he said evenly. “We’re losing because we’re not being us.”
Being “us” meant diving on hardwood. It meant suffocating defense. It meant turning every possession into a street fight. But lately, the edge had dulled. Shots that used to fall were rattling out. Close games were slipping away in the final minutes. And tonight’s loss — a grind-it-out battle that slipped away in the last two possessions — stung deeper than the rest.
Outside the arena, a handful of fans still waited. Not to complain. Not to boo. Just to clap when the players emerged.
That’s the thing about Houston — the city doesn’t abandon its own.
The University of Houston Cougars and it’s Hall of Fame coach, Kelvin Sampson, knows what’s at stake.
March Madness is right around the corner and the little issues plaguing the Cougars over the last three games need to be fixed ASAP.
Losing three straight doesn’t feel like the end anymore. It feels like a line in the sand.
Because the story of the season will not be about a skid in February. It will be about what happened after.
How will the Cougars respond?
