Eight months after punching a ticket to the Final Four with a suffocating 69-50 victory over Tennessee, third-ranked Houston and the No. 17-rated Volunteers meet again in the Player’s Era men’s tournament in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
But after surviving a 78-74 overtime win over Syracuse on Monday in its tournament opener, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson made a point to emphasize that this team still has a long ways to go to be mentioned in the same breath as last spring’s NCAA tourney runner-up.
“We’ve been a pretty good defensive team over the years, but not today,” Sampson said after watching Syracuse go on an 11-0 run in the last 3:06 of regulation to force OT.
“This is not last year’s team. I’m not saying it can’t be eventually, but they’re certainly not now. Look at the mistakes we made. It’s hard to beat a really good team when you’re making silly mistakes.”
Two key returnees from last year’s squad, guards Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan, saved the day for Houston (6-0), scoring 26 points each, including all 11 in overtime. The Cougars also got a big assist from some horrific free-throw shooting by the Orange, who finished just 12-of-29 (41.4%) at the foul line.
Sharp, the most outstanding player at the Midwest Regional, hit a turnaround jumper and 3-point shot to give Houston a 74-69 lead in overtime. Uzan sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 17 seconds to go.
“They’ve been there,” Sampson said. “They’re both tough kids. They have winning DNA.”
“We’ve played in a lot of close games,” Sharp said. “We prepare for these moments.”
Tennessee (6-0), behind 32 points by guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie and 20 points from freshman forward Nate Ament, jumped out to a 56-30 halftime lead and cruised to an 85-60 victory over Rutgers in its opener on Monday.
Gillespie, a transfer from Maryland, was 6-of-10 from 3-point range. The Vols shot 50.8% from the floor, including 11-for-22 behind the arc.
That’s quite a bit different than what happened the last time Tennessee faced the Cougars in the Elite Eight.
Houston held the Vols to just 15 first-half points on 6 of-28 shooting while building a 34-15 halftime lead. Tennessee shot just 29% from the floor for the game, including 5-of-29 (17%) from 3-point range.
Although Sampson criticized his team’s defensive performance on Monday, Vols coach Rick Barnes knows points will be hard to come by Tuesday.
“Just great respect for Kelvin,” Barnes said. “We’ve known each other as long as anybody in the business, and great respect for Kelvin and his team. We know it’s going to be a hard, physical game.”
Gillespie, who handles point guard duties, will be especially key against Houston’s pressure defense.
“I thought Ja’Kobi was terrific,” Barnes said after Monday’s win. “Continues to do what we need him to do, learning how to run the point for our team. But tomorrow, there’s no doubt that he’ll have a lot of pressure pushed his way, along with Nate. And physicality will be a little bit different probably.”
–Field Level Media
