Mercy Miller heard it from his dad — the music mogul and basketball nut Master P. He heard it from University of Houston assistant coach Hollis Price, who is liable to turn anything into a competition. Where were Miller’s hops, they wondered. And challenged.

“My dad was talking to me a little bit, saying I didn’t have no bounce recently,” Miller tells PaperCity with a smile. “Even Coach Hollis. Coach Hollis was like he hadn’t seen me dunk since the summer. I was like OK. ‘I’m going to see what I can try and do.’ ”

What Miller did is throw down one of the dunks of the college basketball season, posterizing 6-foot-11 Iowa State big man Dominykas Pleta in Houston’s last game. Sometimes a dunk is more than just a dunk Sometimes it’s a response, a challenge answered, a sign that more is there. How far Kelvin Sampson’s 23-3 UH team can eventually go — not only in this regular season-closing stretch that includes Saturday’s Top 5 showdown with 24-2 Arizona at the Fertitta Center (2 pm ABC), but in the NCAA Tournament — could be determined by how much more it can get from its bench. Sampson calls UH’s bench the potential X-factor.

Iowa State outscores Houston 25-7 in bench points in its three-point win. Now Arizona comes in with arguably the Big 12’s top sixth man in 6-foot-8, 255-pound rebounding savant Tobe Awaka, who becomes a starter with talented freshman Koa Peat out with an injury.

“I think everybody across the country right now — especially as you’ve seen some of these recent injuries and things that they kept guys out — is the teams that will advance, and the reason we were able to advance last year, is because of our bench,” Houston assistant coach K.C. Beard tells PaperCity. “So we need these guys. Now that you’re almost to March, you’re no longer a freshman. You’re no longer a sophomore.

“You’re a sophomore and a junior. So we need these guys.”

These guys are talented freshman guard Isiah Harwell, Mercy Miller and backup center Kalifa Sakho primarily. A wrist injury continues to limit Chase McCarty‘s contributions (even as he doggedly plays through the pain, showing plenty of heart) and as much as big man Cedric Lath has improved this season, he’s still the third center, largely an emergency option in big games.

Harwell, the uber talented five-star freshman coming off knee surgery, and Mercy, the sophomore with a natural scoring touch, have shown signs of being potential difference makers. When Harwell comes into the game against Iowa State with UH trailing, his defense helps Sampson’s team go on a game-shifting run. Meanwhile, Miller is shooting 50 percent from the field, gaining more of Sampson’s confidence seemingly by the game as he attacks the rim more, settling less and less for just jump shots.

“I think everybody across the country right now — especially as you’ve seen some of these recent injuries and things that they kept guys out — is the teams that will advance, and the reason we were able to advance last year, is because of our bench. So we need these guys.” — UH assistant coach K.C. Beard

Both Harwell and Miller have limitations at this stage in their games. Harwell is still finding his way offensively. Miller can still be defensively challenged at times, though he’s made noticeable strides there throughout this season. Neither is the player they will be in the future. But one or both could emerge as this national-championship-driven Houston team’s X-factor. Just in time for March.

“When he was on the floor those are when we spurted,” Beard says of Harwell against Iowa State. “We got up seven in the first half,  up 10 in the second half. And he was on the floor defensively for large portions of that. Offensively, he’s still just kind of feeling his way in a lot of ways.

“He went from being a guy that was featured at the prep school level. And now he’s kind of got to learn how do you be someone who’s a little bit more off the ball. That’s an adjustment for anybody. Especially a player as talented as Isiah. He’s continuing to learn that. He got great shots (against Iowa State).

“We think in the next game, he’ll knock those shots down.”

Mercy Miller and the Power Of Soaring Confidence

Miller’s in-game confidence is as high as it’s ever been. That poster dunk is just a symptom of that. He lost his defender, turned a corner and saw an opening to the rim. The 6-foot-11 man moving over does not make him hesitate.

“I feel like I had a driving lane.” Miller says. “And if I get that lane, I’m going to try and get up there. . . I’ve seen him helping out. And he came over kind of late. I seen I had the lane and I didn’t think he would jump because he was kind of late. But he ended up jumping and I was already in the air. So that kind of worked in my favor.”

You can say that again. Mercy Miller posterized a 6-foot-11 man. But it’s more about his confidence than collecting an all-time highlight.

For highlights come and go. Flash only to be forgotten. And Miller plans to be making plays for a while.

Why stop now that he’s finally starting to get there?

“Just keep playing,” Mercy says. “I just went out there and played basketball and it came to me. I want to be somebody who contributes whenever I get on the court. Not being somebody who’s just out there. But somebody who makes the team better.”

Houston’s bench can do that. If Miller, Harwell and Sakho, the 6-foot-11 long-armed teansfer center who can jump like a pogo stick, find their best selves. “Kalifa’s really talented. . . ” Beard, who works with the centers every day, says. “When you watched his highlights (at Sam Houston State) and then his games, you just see a guy with a big-time motor. A big-time athlete.

“Again, he’s really talented. He’s one of those guys you wish we had for two or three years. Because I think if we had him for two or three, it could have been special. What he could have been here. But he’s really made his way now late.”

This is Sakho’s last run in college. The question is: Will he and the rest of Houston’s bench find their true power just in time?