Fifteen minutes later, Kelvin Sampson watched the University of Houston game on Saturday against South Carolina from his office.
Two days earlier, the 65-year-old coach found he would miss the first game of his 32-year career, part of the coronavirus contact tracking protocols after assistant coach and son Kellen Sampson tested positive.
“It was horrible,” said Kelvin Sampson during a video conference after shorthanded No. 10 Cougars demonstrated in the second half to beat South Carolina 77-67. “I would rather fight a hedgehog than have to do it again.
“It was horrible.”
During the game, Sampson said he “shut down Kellen 30 times”. He scolded his wife, Karen.
“I just left,” he said. “It was horrible.”
At Fertitta Center, acting coach Quannas White, owner of Sampson’s Final Four team in Oklahoma, was nervous. Like his boss, White threw his jacket away in the opening minutes of the game. He quickly loosened his tie.
“I was sweating before the game started,” said White. “I was trying to be as comfortable as possible.”
To make matters worse, two of the UH’s top scorers, Marcus Sasser and Caleb Mills, were out with ankle injuries.
UH (4-0) – which jumped to the top 10 of national polls earlier this week – took some time to move forward in the first half. South Carolina won a seven-point lead, with the Cougars scoring 1 to 15 on a stretch and almost nine minutes without a field goal. Even so, the Cougars lost just 35-31 in the interval.
After a 3-point Quentin Grimes, South Carolina ran the entire length of the track before UH could return to defense. White asked for a timeout, just 72 seconds in the second half.
“I thought it was a big break for him,” said Sampson. “The timing was great. I can only imagine what he said in the heap. The children responded. This is a sign of great respect from both sides. “
DeJon Jarreau scored on the track and the true freshman Tramon Mark, making his first career start, followed with a free throw and 3 points to tie the game. Brison Gresham added a setback, part of a 14-2 run when the Cougars took control.
South Carolina attacked back, closing in 50-49, when the cougars turned to their children. With veterans Jarreau and Gresham on the bench with four fouls each, Mark suffered a foul in a 3-point attempt and made three free throws, the real freshman Jamal Shead made a couple of free throws and the redshirt freshman J’Wan Roberts fought by a rebound under the post for a kick.
Grimes had 23 points and seven rebounds, and Mark jolted the score 1-7 to score 18 points for the Cougars. Jareau scored 11 points, including nine in a row in the first half to help the Cougars wake up from an offensive sleep.
Houston hit 44 percent in the second half and hit 21 out of 25 on the free throw line.
“Quannas did a great job landing the plane tonight,” said Sampson.
Kelvin Sampson said he will miss Wednesday’s game against Sam Houston State. Kellen Sampson is quarantined for 10 days and will return before the December 15 game against Central Florida.
UH underwent four days of testing during the week. Kellen Sampson tested negative in the first two and tested positive on Thursday.
“I’m feeling fine,” said Kelvin Sampson. “I don’t want to put anyone in danger. I wanted to do everything according to the rules and all the protocols and what is safe for our children ”.
After the game, White grabbed the game ball and handed it to his family sitting in the first row of seats.
“That’s $ 37.95,” joked Kelvin Sampson.
In the locker room, White showered Gatorade while being surrounded by players.
“It feels great,” said White. “I am very proud of the team.”