Houston basketball coach Kelvin Sampson (left) / Thomas Shea/Imagn Images

Houston bounced back from its tough overtime loss on Saturday by holding off Oklahoma State, 72-63, Tuesday night at the Fertitta Center.

But for approximately the first four minutes of his postgame press conference, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson lamented the grueling schedule his team has had to play. Tuesday’s game was the Cougars’ fifth in a span of less than two weeks.

“We just played our fifth game in 13 days; (our) third straight game with no days off,†Sampson said. “On Wednesday (Jan.) 22, we played Utah here. That was the snow game (rescheduled from the day before due to a snowstorm that hit Houston). We left on that Friday to fly to Lawrence (Kansas), and got back at 1 (a.m.) or whenever it was on Sunday. Then we got back on a plane for a three-hour flight to West Virginia, and it was three hours because of headwinds.

“So we get to West Virginia on a Tuesday night and play them on a Wednesday night, (in front of) 14,000, unbelievable crowd there at West Virginia, unbelievable win. Are you kidding me? Your road trip that week is at Kansas and at West Virginia, and somehow, we were fortunate enough to win them both. So now we come back on Wednesday night and get back at 2 or 3 in the morning Thursday.â€

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Then Houston (18-4, 10-1 Big 12 Conference) - currently ranked No. 5 in both the Associated Press and USA Today coaches' Top 25 polls - had to turn around this past Saturday and play Texas Tech, in a game that went into overtime with the Red Raiders pulling off an 82-81 win. Three days later, the Cougars were on the court again taking on Oklahoma State.

Plus, Houston won Tuesday without two key contributors who both sat out due to injury. Starting guard Emanuel Sharp is missing this week’s games due to an issue with his right ankle, and senior forward Ja’Vier Francis went into the concussion protocol after colliding with a Texas Tech player on Saturday.

“What this team needs more than anything else, other than get our team back together, and get Emanuel back and get Ja’Vier back, what we need more than anything else is rest,†Sampson said. “We need to rest.

“Finally, we get a day off (Wednesday), but we’ve got to turn around and fly to Boulder, Colorado, on Friday (where Houston will face Colorado on Saturday).â€

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Sampson went on to note that is how it is in the Big 12 Conference, especially with the league going to a 20-game schedule.

“Everybody in the league gets to it, I’m not complaining, I’m just making sure that people are aware of what the Big 12’s going through when they decided to go to a 20-game schedule,†Sampson said. “The difference between a 20-game schedule and an 18-game schedule is a bye week. There is no bye week.

“You’ve got 10 grueling weeks with two games a week. And your two games a week is not the same for everybody, it depends on where you’re playing.â€

Then after Saturday’s game, Houston flies back home that night and will be right back to action on Monday for a home game against Baylor.

“Think about it, we still have to fly to Boulder on Friday, play Saturday, and play Baylor here Monday,†Sampson said. “I’m not saying it's the Bataan Death March, but it is a grueling schedule for college kids. We all have the same issue, I know Baylor is going to play someone on Saturday, but they have to come here.

“For 10 straight weeks, you have two games a week, and this conference is fast. Administrators and the NCAA quit caring about student-athlete welfare a long time ago. We know the deal; nobody cares about that, nobody. And the emphasis is, nobody.â€

Sampson did confirm that next season, the conference will go to an 18-game schedule. But he even had a parting shot for that.

“Next year, we’ll go to an 18-game schedule,†he said. “When we go to an 18-game schedule now, student-athlete welfare will come into it, but if it was up to the powers that be, they wouldn’t do it.â€Â

• Graduate forward J’Wan Roberts had his second double-double on the season, both coming against Oklahoma State. He had 14 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday’s win, after getting 20 points and 11 boards in Houston’s 60-47 win at Stillwater in the conference opener on Dec. 30.

• Roberts also added to his record as the winningest player in program history. He now has been a part of 134 wins while at Houston.

• Sophomore guard Terrance Arceneaux replaced Sharp in the starting lineup and finished with 10 points, one of four Houston players in double figures. He also recored six of the team’s 16 assists.

• Graduate guard LJ Cryer led the Cougars with 18 points and had four of the team’s eight 3-pointers. Point guard Milos Uzan added 17 points and made three treys.

• Houston made 11 of its final 16 field goal attempts to end the first half to give the Cougars a 39-33 halftime lead.

• Oklahoma State got to within five, 68-63, with 30 seconds left before two free throws apiece from Mylik Wilson and LJ Cryer sealed the victory.

• The Cowboys actually shot the ball better than the Cougars did. Oklahoma State went 51 percent from the field (25-of-49), while Houston went 41.9 percent (26-of-62). But the Cougars out-rebounded the Cowboys, 40-24, including an 18-4 edge on the offensive glass.