UH Cougars advance to Final Four for the first time since 2021

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – The #2/2 (1) University of Houston Men's Basketball program's relentless defense confused and harassed Tennessee and carried the Cougars into their seventh Final Four and first since 2021, with graduate guard L.J. Cryer scoring 17 points in a 69-50 victory on Sunday afternoon inside Lucas Oil Stadium.

Junior guard Emanuel Sharp scored 14 of his 16 points after halftime for top-seeded Houston (34-4) and was named the region's Most Outstanding Player.

Houston extended the nation's longest active winning streak to 17 games. The Cougars had been eliminated as a No. 1 seed in the Sweet 16 in each of the past two years, but this time head coach Kelvin Sampson's team has a shot at the program's first national title.

The Cougars will face Cooper Flagg and five-time national champ Duke on Saturday in San Antonio - just a 3 1/2-hour drive from campus

Sharp made four 3-pointers and sophomore forward Joseph Tugler, who made the assist on Friday's decisive basket against Purdue, had nine rebounds.

Chaz Lanier and Jordan Gainey scored 17 points apiece for the second-seeded Volunteers (30-8), who again fell short of the program's first Final Four appearance. Coach Rick Barnes' team was also eliminated in a regional final last year.

Houston won this one with a familiar formula.

The nation's stingiest defense held the Vols to 15 first-half points, the fewest in an Elite Eight game since 1979. It also was the lowest first-half scoring total by any No. 1 or No. 2 seed in a March Madness game since seeding began in 1979.

When the Vols had a chance to cut the deficit to single digits in the second half, the nation's top 3-point shooting team made three straight from beyond the arc to extend the margin to 17.

They made only 6 of 28 shots in the first 20 minutes and missed their first 14 3s before Zakai Ziegler finally ended the drought with 38 seconds left, cutting the deficit to 34-15 - far too big a deficit to come back from. Tourney teams that trailed by 19 or more points at halftime are now 0-244 all-time.

Even in the second half, Tennessee struggled. The defense that outplayed Kentucky so thoroughly in the previous round couldn't get enough stops and while the offense improved, it wasn't good enough.

Tennessee's top scorers, Chaz Lanier and Zeigler, were a combined 5 of 27 from the field. Zeigler had five points and five assists.

UP NEXT

• With Sunday's win, Houston advanced to the NCAA Tournament Final Four for the seventh time in school history and the second time under Head Coach Kelvin Sampson.

• The Cougars will face #1/1 (1) Duke inside Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday.

• That game will tip off at 7:49 p.m., and can be seen on CBS. It can be heard on 950 AM KPRC.