Syracuse men will meet Houston, one of country’s best offensive rebounding teams, in Sweet 16

The Syracuse men’s basketball team will face one of the country’s best offensive rebounding teams in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

Houston, the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region, advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 63-60 win over No. 10 Rutgers on Sunday night. No. 11 Syracuse advanced earlier in the day with a 75-72 win over No. 3 West Virginia. The game will be played next Saturday at a time that has yet to be announced.

Despite not having remarkable size, the Cougars secured nearly 40 percent of their missed shots over the course of the season, second in the country behind North Carolina. Houston pulled down 16 in the win over Rutgers.

The final offensive rebound of their night resulted in a putback by Tramon Mark to tie the game with 24 seconds left, with a foul shot to give the Cougars the league. Houston secured the win by forcing a turnover, hitting two free throws and forcing a final miss.

Houston (26-3) delivered a gritty performance in its win over Rutgers trailing for much of the second half and pulling off the comeback with starting point guard DeJon Jarreau playing through obvious pain. The Cougars finished the game on a 14-2 run.

Guard Quentin Grimes, who initially committed to Kansas before transferring to Houston, scored a game-high 22 points, while Jarreau had 17 points.

Houston ranks among the 20 best teams in the country in offensive and defensive efficiency according to basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy. The Cougars are one of four teams to rank that highly in both categories, a group that also includes Gonzaga, Michigan and Illinois.

Defensive rebounding is one of the primary challenges for Syracuse in its 2-3 zone throughout the season, although both the SU offense and defense has appeared much improved during the offseason.

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