UH Men’s basketball team head coach Kelvin Sampson is fond of saying, “Don’t sleep on Houston.” Most of America likely did on Saturday night inside the Alamodome in San Antonio where they, once again the underdog, faced arguably the best team in college basketball (Duke) and the best player in Cooper Flagg. Particularly true when Sampson’s team found itself down by 14 points with eight minutes to play and again by nine with just over three.
Improbable, yes.
Impossible, never.
The Coogs went to work in one of the wildest finishes in NCAA Final Four history, scoring the final nine points to cap an incredible comeback and a 70-67 win that would propel them into the title game on Monday against Florida, who beat Auburn in their own comeback just hours earlier.
While Flagg remained the impressive, All American with 27 points, he did miss his last shot, which could have put Duke back up. Instead, the elbow jumper glanced off the front of the rim and all that was left were free throws.
For the Cougars, there were heroes everywhere, which is normal for this squad. Yes, they have the tremendous three-guard lineup of L.J Cryer, Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan, the best such group in college basketball, and fifth-year senior J’Wan Roberts, but Sampson has preached a discipline and patience and tenacity that infuses every player under him.
Nothing could have demonstrated this level of resilience better than a wild final sequence involving forward Joseph “Jo Jo” Tugler. With just over a minute remaining and Tugler pressuring the inbounds pass, in a moment of pure adrenaline, he reached across the out of bounds line and knocked the ball away from the Duke player. Sampson fell to his knees on the sideline as Duke squared up for a technical free throw.
Tugler could have been the talk of this loss for years to come, but that is not how Sampson’s team works. After what must have been a demoralizing moment, Tugler managed to not only make a key defensive play with a block of Kon Knueppel, but also help force a turnover on another inbounds pass which led to a missed three and Tugler’s put back dunk.
It was a remarkable sequence in under 30 seconds followed by a pair of Roberts free throws, Flagg’s missed 15 footer and two more from the stripe for Cryer to seal the win.
Cryer led the team with 26 points, while Roberts had 11 with 12 rebounds. Sharp pitched in 16.
Now, they are back in the title game for the first time since Phi Slama Jama’s last run in 1984, a loss to Patrick Ewing and Georgetown. They face a dangerous Florida squad and their star, Walter Clayton, Jr., who just dropped 34 points on Auburn. It’s yet another challenge for an undaunted Cougar team and their all-time-great coach.
Florida opens as the favorite.
Don’t sleep on Houston.
