By SAM LANCE
KANSAS CITY — BYU walked into the Big 12 tournament semifinals with the No. 9 offense on Kenpom and an average of 86.3 points over its nine-game winning streak. But it hasn’t seen a defense quite like Houston’s.
The Coogs simply suffocated BYU, allowing just 32% shooting from the field and 21% from 3-point range, to win 74-54 and advance to the Big 12 tournament championship game. BYU’s 3-point percentage and 0.831 points per possession were season-lows.
“Our defense was our defense,” head coach Kelvin Sampson said postgame. “I thought our discipline was outstanding tonight.”
The game started 15-0 in favor of Houston after a 4-point play from junior guard Emanuel Sharp. At the under-12 media timeout in the first half, senior guard LJ Cryer had more points (7) than BYU as a whole (6). The only time BYU had life was a 7-0 run to make it 23-16 midway through the first half. From there, Houston outscored the Cougars by 14 to take a 41-20 lead into halftime.
In the second half, BYU was more competitive and outscored Houston by one point, but the damage done in the first half was insurmountable.
Sharp and Cryer led the way for Houston with 26 and 20 points, respectively. The other Coog in double-figures was senior guard Milos Uzan with 14 points. BYU is a top-20 team nationwide in 3-point tries per game, but Houston was right there with them on attempts and made four more from deep. The Coogs beat BYU at its own game.
What makes this dominant performance by Houston even more impressive is the fact that it came without one of their best players, senior big man J’Wan Roberts. He was ruled out pregame after spraining his ankle in Thursday’s game vs. Colorado. He was seen in a walking boot on the bench on Friday, and he will not play the rest of the tournament.
Houston forward J’Wan Roberts has a low-lateral right ankle sprain, according to team trainer John Houston. Roberts did not have any significant swelling or discoloration when he woke up Friday. He’s expected to sit out Saturday to allow time to heal for start of NCAA Tournament.
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) March 15, 2025
Houston will play the winner of No. 2 Texas Tech and No. 3 Arizona on Saturday in the title game at 6 p.m. ET. The Coogs have dominated the Big 12 since joining before the 2023-24 season, winning back-to-back regular season titles and making the championship game for the second year in a row. All that is left is to be crowned the tournament champion.
“It would mean a lot [to win it all],” sophomore big man Joseph Tugler said. “I didn’t even get to play last year, so you know it’s going to mean a lot to me personally. But it’ll mean a lot of everyone too.”
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