By RENALDO DORSETT
Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
WE were patiently waiting for Danrad “Chicken” Knowles to have a breakout game this season.
That game came Sunday night when he outplayed the top player in all of college basketball and led his Houston Cougars to a 105-98 win over the LSU Tigers in overtime.
Knowles, the junior forward, finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots in 32 minutes.
Freshman phenom and the projected No.1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, LSU’s Ben Simmons, finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.
Houston outscored LSU 21-14 in the extra period to successfully protect home court at Hofeinz Pavilion. It was the first start of the season for the 6’10” 210 pound forward originally out of Long Island.
“Starting gave me a lot more confidence,” he said. “It helped me get in the flow a little bit more on offence.”
The Cougars improved to 6-1 on the year.
One of six lettermen to return this season for the Cougars and one of two Bahamians on the roster along with injured point guard LJ Rose, Danrad Knowles will be a player head coach Kelvin Sampson will depend on as the team looks to contend in the American Athletic Conference.
“Chicken (Danrad Knowles) is a good player. I was trying to figure out how to use Kyle Meyer. It’s early in the season. There are no decisions made. We’re still trying to find some things here. This is the first year that these guys have played together,” Sampson said following the win over LSU. “I knew that Chicken was a much better player than he was playing. Sometimes when you put them in that starting lineup their ears prick up. I’ve seen Chicken play well. I saw him get 31 points against Tulane, but Chicken can play better. We made a concerted effort to go to him in the post, and he kept delivering, but it was good for him. It’s good for our team too that he’s another guy that can step up and play for us.”
As a sophomore, Knowles averaged 9.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game,
third on the team in both categories, despite playing out of position many times at the centre.
Knowles said the team’s depth and leadership should help them to improve from last year’s team, which recorded 13 wins, fell in the second round of their conference tournament and did not advance to the NCAA tournament.
“Everybody has the same mindset that they want to get better,” Knowles said earlier this season at AAC media day. “Everybody wants to be a leader at this point. Everybody has been pushing themselves pretty hard. We have more players and more depth. We’re more talented. We have 13 guys that can actually play, it’s a big difference.”
The Cougars are scheduled to return to play Wednesday when they play North Carolina Central in the Global Basketball Classic First Round.
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