FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — When Marcus Sasser awkwardly collapsed on the court after his feet slipped while dribbling past half court, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson knew something was wrong even without actually seeing what had happened.
“Marcus falls, it means he’s hurt,” Sampson said. “We always say that pain is an opinion. Some children have a high opinion. Some children have a low opinion. But Marcus doesn’t come down. He never misses practice, never misses a rep. He is always there.
Sasser, the American Athletic Conference player of the year, suffered an apparent groin injury with approximately 6 1/2 minutes remaining in the first half of the Cougars’ 69-48 victory over Cincinnati in their semifinal game of the AAC tournament on Saturday.
Houston (31-2), which led the entire time, was up eight when Sasser was injured and extended that lead to 15 by halftime.
Sampson said Sasser would be reevaluated, but indicated the senior guard might not play when the Cougars, two-time reigning regular-season champions, try to win their third straight AAC tournament title against Memphis on Sunday.
“I would probably err on the side of keeping him because of how important next week is,” Sampson said. “But the most important thing is Marcus… his healthy progress is the most important thing here.”
Jamal Shead had 16 points and nine assists for the Cougars in the AAC semifinal, which pitted two teams that will move to the Big 12 next season. J’Wan Roberts had two second-chance layups in the first minute of the game to put Houston ahead to stay. He finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Jarace Walker had 13 points.
“Just knowing that Marcus came out of the game and we still have teammates that we know are coming off the bench and coming in with the same energy, it shows a lot about our team,” Roberts said. “It just shows that everyone supports each other and we never stray from what we’re doing, we just stick together.”
Houston is a safe bet to be the No. 1 seed when the NCAA Tournament bracket comes out on Sunday, no matter what happens in its fifth straight AAC Tournament championship game.
Landers Nolley II had 14 points for Cincinnati (21-12), which shot a season-high 25.5% (13-of-51) from the field.
After scoring 30 points for the Cougars on Friday, Sasser scored four points in nine minutes against Cincinnati before the non-contact injury. He was dribbling between the conference logo and the 3-point line when his right foot seemed to slip, knocking him off balance before his left foot slipped as well, sending him into an awkward split.
Sasser was a starter on the Cougars’ 2021 Final Four team, but missed their run to the NCAA Elite Eight last year because of a broken left foot before Christmas. He did not speak to the media after the game.
Cincinnati was within 44-35 on Nolley’s 3-pointer with about 15 minutes remaining, the only time after halftime the Bearcats were within single digits. Shead then started a 17-3 run with a jumper and scored seven points in the streak that pushed Houston’s lead to 61-38.
“Obviously, they’re the No. 1-ranked team in the country for a reason, and they’re a tough team to score,” Bearcats coach Wes Miller said. “It was a difficult night for us, because we didn’t score and we didn’t defend well. That’s how you get that kind of lopsided margin.”
BIG PICTURE
Cincinnati: The Bearcats will miss the NCAA Tournament again, their last appearance coming in 2019, which was their ninth straight. … For the second day in a row, Cincinnati was down 10 points in less than seven minutes of play. But there wouldn’t be a comeback like Friday’s 84-54 win over Temple for the Bearcats’ largest margin of victory in a conference tournament game. Instead, they lost by more than 20 points for the second time this season.
Houston: The Cougars rebounded from Friday’s worst shooting game of the season (28.1% overall, 16-of-57). They nearly doubled that in the semifinal game, shooting 50.9% (29 of 57). … Houston is 11-0 at Dickies Arena, and has yet to lose on the road this season.
UNTIL NEXT TIME
Houston plays Memphis (25-8) in the tournament championship game on Sunday. The winner gets the automatic berth in the league’s NCAA Tournament, but both will be part of the 68-team NCAA field, like last year when the Cougars beat the Tigers 71-53 for the tournament title. the AAC.
___ AP College Basketball: yy
