Houston Looks To Take The Final Step

Kelvin Sampson has rebuilt the Houston program into one of the elite, and the Cougars will make their seventh straight appearance in the NCAA tournament as the top seed in the Midwest Region this year.

Maybe the near-misses will finally end.

“He’s done an unbelievable job,” Cougars guard Terrance Arceneaux told PaperCity. “This is the year I hope he gets the job done.”

Close calls and heartbreak endings have haunted the program since the Guy Lewis Phi Slama Jam group that featured Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon and Michael Young. The Cougars lost national title games in 1983-84, and they have not been back to the finals since.

That shining moment video of North Carolina coach Jimmy Valvano running the floor looking for someone to hug after the Wolfpack’s last-second victory in the 1984 title game? That was Houston, stunned.

Michigan’s Jordan Poole hit a 50-foot buzzer-beater in a 64-63 victory in the second round of the 2018 West Regional, a win that helped propel the Wolverines to the national championship game. Another crushing blow for the Cougars.

Houston (30-4) was blown out by eventual champion Baylor in the 2021 semifinals and has cruised into the second weekend of the tournament in each of the last three seasons before hitting a roadblock.

The Cougars are back for another run after winning 26 of their last 27 games, the only blemish in that stretch an overtime loss to Texas Tech, which is a No. 3 seed in the West. Since 2017-18, Houston is 237-43, a record second to Gonzaga in Division I.

“I want us to continue to play with the fearlessness and the confidence that it was like in those old Westerns, when guys come off that cattle drive and couldn’t wait to get to the saloon to get whatever it is they were looking for,” Sampson said on CBS analyst Jon Rothstein’s podcast.

“They swing those doors open, they walk in there just wanting to fight somebody. That’s an attitude. I want our guys to swing those doors open and look for a fight and be fearless.”

The Cougars are one of three teams ranked by KenPom in the top 10 in both adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency. Florida and Duke are the others.

They play at a slow pace — Drake is the only other NCAA tournament team that is slower — and lead with a quick, aggressive defense that has limited opponents to a 38.3 field goal percentage, third-lowest in Division I.

Senior guard LJ Cryer, the lone starter remaining of the 2021 team, leads in scoring (15.2 points). Leading rebounder J’Wan Roberts is expected to return after missing the final two games of the Big 12 tournament with a right ankle injury. Injuries hurt last year, when key contributor Jamal Shead missed the NCAA tournament.

Other Top Seeds in the Midwest

Tennessee is the No. 2 seed, Kentucky is No. 3 and Purdue is No. 4 in the Midwest, which will get started in earnest on Thursday with six of its eight games.

Tennessee was one of three SEC teams to reach the top of AP Top 25 this season, when their 14-0 start pushed them to No. 1 for five straight weeks beginning in early December. Like Houston, the Volunteers lead with defense, ranking third in KenPom in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Former Kentucky player Mark Pope led the Wildcats to their 61st NCAA tournament appearance in his first season as head coach. Purdue lost to UCOnn in the 2024 title game and has scuffled recently, losing six of its last nine after reaching No. 7 in the AP Top 25.

Players to Watch

Milos Uzan, 6-4, Houston

Oklahoma transfer Uzan has stepped up his game down the stretch while averaging 15.3 points in the last eight. He had 53 points in the three Big 12 tourney games, 25 in the championship game against Arizona.

Braden Smith, 6-0, Purdue

Smith, the point guard on the Zach Edey team that made the finals a year ago, led the Big Ten in assists for the second year in a row, averaging 8.7 this season. He is averaging 16.1 points and two 3-pointers a game.

Ryan Nembhard, 6-0, Gonzaga

Nembhard, whose brother plays for the Indiana Pacers, is the classic old-school point guard. Few mistakes, get teammates easier shots. He leads Division I at 9.8 assists per game, and the Zags lead the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Otega Oweh, 6-5, Kentucky

Six Wildcats average in double figures, but none has been more helpful than Oweh, another Oklahoma transfer. He is averaging 16.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and two threes per. The Cats are 0-3 when he does not score at least 10.

Midwest Regional Schedule

^{(Games in Milwaukee, Providence, Wichita, Lexington, Ky.)}

First/second round (all times ET)

March 20

No. 4 Purdue vs No. 13 High Point, Providence, 2:40 pm, truTV

No. 1 Houston vs No. 16 SIU-Edwardsville, Wichita, 2 pm, TBS

No. 5 Clemson vs No. 12 McNeese State, Providence, 3:15 pm, truTV

No. 8 Gonzaga vs No. 9 Georgia, Wichita, 4:35 pm, TBS

No. 2 Tennessee vs No. 15 Wofford, Lexington, 6:50 pm, TNT

No. 7 UCLA vs No. 10 Utah State, Lexington, 9:25 pm, TNT

March 21

No. 3 Kentucky vs No. 14 Troy, Milwaukee, 7:10 pm, CBS

No. 6 Illinois vs. No. 11 Xavier, Milwaukee, 9:45 pm, CBS

March 22

Houston/SIU-Edwardsville winner vs Gonzaga/Georgia winner

Tennessee/Wofford winner vs UCLA/Utah State winner

Purdue/High Point winner vs Clemson/McNeese State winner

March 23

Kentucky/Troy winner vs Illinois/Xavier winner

Sweet Sixteen

^{(Games in Indianapolis)}

March 28

Regional Finals

March 30