Milos Uzan scored a career-best 26 points and collected seven rebounds, five assists and three steals while Emanuel Sharp also scored 26 points to help No. 3 Houston escape with a 78-74 overtime victory over Syracuse on Monday in the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas.
Joseph Tugler blocked five shots as the Cougars (6-0) were victorious despite blowing an 11-point lead late in regulation.
Tyler Betsey scored 16 points and William Kyle III added 12 points, 10 rebounds and three steals for the Orange. Naithan George and JJ Starling had 11 points and Kiyan Anthony and Nate Kingz scored 10 apiece for Syracuse (4-1).
Orange leading scorer Donnie Freeman (17.8 points per game) missed the contest with a lower leg injury and will also be unavailable for the team’s ensuing two games in Las Vegas.
In Tuesday’s tournament play, Houston plays No. 17 Tennessee, while Syracuse meets Kansas.
Sharp made a turnaround jumper and a 3-pointer in a span of 39 seconds to give Houston a 74-69 lead with 2:36 left in overtime.
Syracuse fought back within 76-74 on George’s layup with 34.3 seconds remaining. However, Uzan made two free throws with 17.6 seconds left to help Houston hold on.
Syracuse trailed by 11 before erupting for 11 consecutive points to force overtime.
The Orange scored six points in 21 seconds to move within 67-62. Kyle scored on a layup and Starling followed with a basket and was fouled. Starling missed the free throw and Betsey scored on a putback to make it a five-point deficit with 2:29 left.
Kyle’s dunk pushed Syracuse within three with 1:38 left before Betsey drained a 3-pointer to tie it at 67 with 54.6 seconds to play.
Houston shot 36.4% from the field, including 11 of 27 from 3-point range. The Cougars were 19 of 27 from the free-throw line, while Syracuse was a shaky 12 of 29.
The Orange made 42.9% of their shots and were 8 of 31 from behind the arc.
A three-point play by Kingz pushed Syracuse within 56-54 with 9:19 left in regulation before the Cougars rattled off nine straight points. Uzan and Sharp made layups before Sharp hit a 3-pointer to give Houston a nine-point lead. Kalifa Sakho’s putback made it 65-54 with 4:56 left.
Starling’s layup with 3:33 left ended the Orange’s 5:46 field-goal drought. Two free throws by Sharp with 3:06 left again gave Houston an 11-point lead.
Sharp scored 13 first-half points and Uzan added 10 as Houston took a 37-34 lead at the break. Betsey had 11 points in the half for the Orange.
–Field Level Media
