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INDIANAPOLIS — LJ Cryer delivered 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists as No. 1 seed Houston dominated early and pulled away late for a 69-50 victory over No. 2 Tennessee in the Midwest Region final Sunday.

The Cougars (34-4) claimed their first Final Four berth since 2021 by throttling the Vols with the nation’s best defense. Houston’s man-to-man harassed Tennessee (30-8) into missing its first 14 3-point attempts — and 22 of its first 27 shots overall — to build a 22-point lead that never got smaller than 10.

“Houston, they do what they do,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. “That’s why they’re where they are. That’s the standard of their program. (The) first half obviously got away from us.”

Houston’s quest for its first NCAA title game appearance since 1984 will continue Saturday in San Antonio against Duke. The only other meeting between the Blue Devils and Cougars came in last year’s Sweet Sixteen — when Duke claimed a 54-51 win in Dallas.

Emanuel Sharp scored 11 of his 16 points in the final 10 minutes for Houston, which never trailed. The Cougars, who won their 17th game in a row, owned the boards by a 42-35 margin while forcing Tennessee into 28.8 percent shooting from the field and 5-of-29 from 3-point range.

“In the program, we know how much we work hard,” said Sharp, who was voted the region’s Most Outstanding Player. “Especially Coach Sampson. That’s the main person for me. It feels great to get him back here because he deserves it. He’s the best coach ever. Ever. He comes in every day with the same energy, the same intensity, and that’s what makes him great.”

Jordan Gainey produced 17 points off the bench and Chaz Lanier added 17 to pace Tennessee, which came one step shy of its first Final Four appearance for the second year in a row.

“Houston’s a tough team,” said Lanier, who finished 4-of-18 from the field and 2-of-12 on 3-point attempts. “We knew they were going to be super-aggressive and physical coming out. They just got the best of us.”

Tennessee’s offensive struggles were foreshadowed on the game’s first possession when Lanier’s 17-foot pullup came up well short of the rim. Houston came down and Joseph Tugler soared over the rim for an easy putback, which foretold the Cougars’ dominance on the board.

As the first 10 minutes unfolded, the Volunteers kept firing 3-pointers in vain while the Cougars kept scoring in the paint.

Houston turned a 4-2 edge into a 15-4 lead with 11:37 left in the first half when Cryer blew past Cade Phillips for a layup that forced Tennessee coach Rick Barnes to call a timeout. At that juncture, the Vols stood 1-for-11 from the floor (0-of-7 on 3-pointers) while Houston already had 12 points in the paint.

Lanier, who entered the game averaging 22.0 points per NCAA Tournament game, finally got on the board with a 15-foot jumper with 8:09 left in the half. That pulled the Vols within 22-8, but Houston responded with a Terrance Arceneaux 3-pointer and 15-foot baseline jumper that forced another Barnes timeout with his team shooting 3-of-21 from the field.

When Zakai Zeigler finally cashed a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left in the first half — ending their 0-for-14 start from long range — the pro-Tennessee crowd issued a muted mixture of roars, exhales and Bronx cheers.

Houston carried a 34-15 lead into halftime, which inspired Tennessee to start pressing full-court to force the action.

Gainey did his best to get the Vols back into it — drilling a 3-pointer, a putback, a driving scoop and another 3-pointer in a 2:23 stretch — to slice Houston’s lead to 44-30 with 13:19 to go.

The Vols got as close as 50-40 on Darlinstone Dubar’s free throw with 5:42 left. Sharp answered 13 seconds later with a triple.

Gainey slashed to the hoop but rimmed his lefty layup. Sharp and Mylik Wilson responded with 3-pointers to boost the lead to 59-42 with 4:04 to play and send some Tennessee fans to the exits — ignoring the reminder by the public address announcer about the severe weather and tornado watch blanketing the Indianapolis area like the Houston defense.

–Lindsey Willhite, Field Level Media