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LAS VEGAS -- With a matchup against Tennessee looming Tuesday in the Players Era Festival, Kelvin Sampson said Monday night's close call against Syracuse and the double-digit lead Houston squandered in the final minutes wasn't the by-product of an unfocused team. "We're not good enough to look ahead," Sampson said after the 78-74 overtime win. "You saw the way we played [Monday]. I see it every day. Some days we're better than others. This is not last year's team. I'm not saying they can't be eventually, but they're certainly not now. Look at the mistakes we make." Tuesday's meeting against the Vols will be a rematch of last year's Elite Eight game, which Houston won 69-50. A win Tuesday could propel the Cougars to another elite matchup Wednesday in the Players Era title game. But in the final minutes Monday, there were no guarantees they would even leave the MGM Grand Garden Arena with a win. In the last 3:06 of regulation, Syracuse launched an 11-0 run to force overtime, negating standout performances from Milos Uzan (26 points) and Emanuel Sharp (26 points). The Orange, without leading scorer Donnie Freeman (lower-body injury) this week, made just 44% (11-for-25) of their free throw attempts but still managed to battle the No. 3 team in America. Sampson said youth was a factor in Houston's shaky performance. This season, Sampson signed one of the most decorated recruiting classes of his tenure; Chris Cenac Jr., Isiah Harwell and Kingston Flemings were all top-25 recruits. But the trio finished 7-for-22 combined against Syracuse. Overall, Houston made just 36% of its field goal attempts. It also committed 13 turnovers. A frustrated Sampson slammed a clipboard onto the ground during a timeout in the second half. "It is hard to beat any really good team," he said. "It's hard to beat them when you're making silly mistakes. 'What are we doing here?' But I try not to overreact to things in November." Halfway through his postgame news conference, however, Sampson said he wanted to stop talking about what Houston did wrong to focus on what a shorthanded Syracuse squad had done right. "Let's give credit to coach Adrian Autry and let's give credit to Syracuse," Sampson said. "His kids played hard. They played good enough to win. We played good enough to win, too, and I'm glad we did, but I was impressed with Syracuse tonight." After the loss, Autry said his team will prepare to play Kansas on Tuesday and not view Monday's effort as a "moral victory." But he also said he was impressed by the toughness the team demonstrated without its top scorer in Freeman. "It's a hard-working program, so I was just proud that these guys had a chance to actually see it and experience it and they know that as we move forward, we'll continue to get better," Autry said. On Tuesday, Tennessee's matchup against Houston will take center stage here. It's a game that could impact their respective standings on Selection Sunday. Either way, Sampson said the games this week will give the Cougars a chance to grow. "One thing about all the teams here, whether you play good or you don't play good, those experiences are important," he said. "So it's important to have good experiences, but it's also important to have experiences where maybe you don't play so well because this is not the last time that that's going to happen. But how do you win on nights, maybe, when you don't play very good? How do you figure it out?"
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