Kyler Edwards Shows Why His UH Teammates Absolutely Love Him — This March Man Embraces the NCAA Tournament Pressure

PITTSBURGH — As Jamal Shead heads for the sideline, University of Houston coach Kelvin Sampson pulls him into an embrace. Sampson pounds on the young point guard’s chest, a hearty emphasis on a job well done. Fabian White Jr. just beat Shead to the bench but Sampson knows better than to pound on his team leader who’s fighting through bothersome back pain. Kyler Edwards is still on the floor, finishing off a 12th seed and his own March masterpiece.

Some players just rise to the big moment, embracing the pressure, the stakes, the utter lack of a safety net. Luckily for Sampson, he’s built a team of guys like that. True NCAA Tournament players. Start with Kyler Edwards — because there is no other place to start on this night.

Edwards effectively rips apart UAB’s game plan and takes over a first round NCAA Tournament game, often one of the more dangerous games for a favorite. He does it by hitting shot after shot, grabbing moment after moment in UH’s 82-68 brush back of a double digit seed, anything but a given in a March that’s already been marked by monumental upsets.

“When you get to this stage of the season — where you win, you advance; you don’t, you go home — sometimes that triggers something inside of a kid like Kyler,” Sampson says. “He’s a tough kid.”

Edwards has company on this team. These now 30-5 Cougars are a bunch of battlers, the kind of prime time players who don’t run from a fight. Sampson’s players have been waiting for this March stage all season in many respects — and they’re not about to back down now. This is just NCAA step one of what these Houston players really believe can be a national championship run. No matter how unlikely or illogical almost everyone else in America may think that is.

Edwards, a Texas Tech transfer, has now played in nine NCAA Tournament games in his college basketball career. He’s been on the winning side in seven of those nine games. That’s no mere coincidence.

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Many bracket “experts” predicted that Houston would be a first round upset loser in the dreaded 12 vs. 5 seed matchup. Instead, the Cougars join St. Mary’s as the only two of the four fifth seeds to advance. UH plays fourth seed Illinois, which beat 13th seed Chattanooga by a point, on Sunday at 11:10 am. One win from advancing to San Antonio for the regional.

March upsets often follow something of a predictable pattern — with the underdog grabbing an early lead and gaining confidence with the force of a rolling avalanche. Fabian White refuses to let that happen to Houston. White scores the first six points of the game, setting an early tone that Edwards will grab onto and amplify. UH’s unquestioned player leader is still bothered by the back issues that forced him to miss all but three minutes of the Cougars’ American Athletic Conference tournament win over Tulane.

Every time he goes to the bench in this NCAA Tournament win, White straps an electronic stimulation pad around his waist and lower back. The idea is to help keep the back loose, but there are times where it looks like the forward is still feeling it. But Fabian White still manages to play almost 29 minutes and put up 14 points, six rebounds and a block.

Yes, Fabian White is beyond tough too.

So is Jamal Shead, the 19-year-old once emergency point guard turned conference assist king. Shead takes on a lot of the responsibility of guarding UAB star/urban legend Jordan “Jelly” Walker. And a lot of the responsibility of breaking the Blazers’ press attempts.

Walker ends up shooting 6 for 18, including a horrific 1 for 10 clip from 3-point land. Shead puts up 12 points (on only eight shots) and seven assists with only one turnover in 34 minutes, leading UH to 14 fast break points.

“I can’t say enough about Jamal Shead and the job he did on Jordan Walker,” Sampson says.

That’s enough for a special sideline hug. Especially considering this is Shead’s first NCAA Tournament game as a starting point guard. Shead isn’t just the on-court orchestrator for any team either. The other UH starters are a veteran bunch, but Shead is the connector who keeps everyone involved. On this night that means four double digit scorers in Edwards (25 points, seven rebounds, three assists), White (14 points), center Josh Carlton (12 points in 22 minutes) and Shead himself. And one near double digit scorer in Taze Moore, who puts up nine points and six assists, showing off plenty of playmaking abilities himself.

It’s that kind of NCAA Tournament opener for Houston, one where everyone who plays seems to contribute. Even freshman guard Ramon Walker Jr. grabs six rebounds off the bench, including a few big offensive rebounds that have Lauren Sampson, UH’s do-everything director of basketball operations, jumping up from her chair, screaming.

But in the end, this March night belongs to Kyler Edwards.

The Kyler Edwards Show

Edwards looks Quentin Grimes-like again, hitting six triples and shooting 9 for 15 overall. His plus-minus rating comes in at a game-high plus 17. This is a man who likes March.

“I like to stay confident,” Edwards says when I ask what got him going. “So I always think my shot is going. So my teammates look for me a lot because they know I can shoot.”

Edwards’ Houston’s teammates know that Kyler Edwards being a 37 percent shooter — what the season stats say he is — is a lie. One largely born out of the defensive demands and endless minutes Edwards had to play to help keep an injury rocked, depth challenged team going.

If you give Kyler Edwards open looks, you’re going to pay. UAB coach Andy Kennedy learned this the hard way.

“Well, we didn’t expect them to make 20 threes tonight,” UAB guard Quan Jackson says. “That’s one thing. Once that ball was going in on their end, just like Coach AK says, it’s an energy drainer.

“We put our head down a little bit. We’d come back on offense, and we just be like ‘They just hit another three.’ ”

Houston actually only hit 10 threes, but when Kyler Edwards is shooting like that, it can feel like that Indiana Jones boulder is rolling right at you — and somehow picking up mass.

When Edwards hits a driving, twisting layup with 50 seconds left, with the win secured, he gestures to the UH bench and all his teammates love it. Heck, UH assistant coach Kellen Sampson clearly loves it. He’s jumping around with the bench mob too. Edwards couldn’t be more popular with his teammates and coaches. They love how he’s never worried about his own stats, doing whatever he could to help the Cougars continue to win. Even if it meant his own shooting numbers might suffer.

Edwards, a Texas Tech transfer, has now played in nine NCAA Tournament games in his college basketball career. Eight with the Red Raiders. One with the Cougars — and counting. He’s been on the winning side in seven of those nine NCAA Tournament games. That’s no mere coincidence.

This is a man who likes pressure games. Someone who never shies away from a big shot. Or a big moment.

Kellen Sampson will tell you that Edwards’ mom Lori Alexander has plenty to do with that. “Kyler’s mom is one tough lady,” Kellen laughs with a smile.

“Kyler’s a good shooter, I don’t care what the numbers say.” — UH head coach Kelvin Sampson on Edwards.

Now, Edwards is teaming up in March with Fabian White, who’s been talking about winning “a natty,” making his teammates believe that they can cut down the nets in New Orleans no matter what anyone else thinks.

They certainly don’t fear March. Not when they have each other to lean on — and the young point guard too.

Kentucky and Iowa have already been knocked out amid a slew of upsets. Kelvin Sampson’s team rolls and cooks into the second round, one win away from making at least the Sweet 16 for the third straight NCAA Tournament. Illinois’ monster big man Kofi Cockburn (17 points, 13 rebounds in the Fighting Illini’s  first round escape) stands in the Cougars’ way. But these UH battlers stand in Cockburn’s way too.

This Houston team looks very comfortable in March.