Houston locks down Tennessee to secure Kelvin Sampson’s third career Final Four trip
In a battle of two of college basketball’s best defenses, Houston put together one of the most impressive defensive performances in NCAA Tournament history in a 69-50 win over Tennessee to send Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson to the third Final Four of his career (2021 at Houston, 2002 at Oklahoma).
Houston’s one worry coming into the Elite Eight was that the Vols were not a high ball screen-use team and didn’t post up often, which took away its two schematic disrupters: its two-on-the-ball attack of pick-and-rolls and its “Monster” double-teams on post-ups.
The theme was “Chest and heart, not scheme.” The Coogs, turns out, have plenty.
Tennessee could not find any airspace for most of the afternoon. Their drives to the basket were continually met by one of those Houston chests, followed by the long arms of the UH frontcourt. The Vols shot just 28.8% from the field, missed their first 14 3-point attempts and ended the first half with 15 points, the fewest scored in a first half by a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament history.
At the other end, Houston executed exactly what it wanted offensively in the first half, feeding J’Wan Roberts in the post early and going to work in the pick-and-roll when Roberts went to the bench with a second foul a little more than five minutes into the game.
With Roberts out, the Coogs went to their small lineup that Sampson gained confidence in during this month’s Big 12 tournament title run, when Roberts missed the final two games with a sprained ankle. Terrance Arceneaux, Roberts’ replacement, caught fire for eight points in the first half. And when the Coogs missed, they dominated the offensive glass, finishing with 14 offensive rebounds and 19 second-chance points.
Houston moves on to the Final Four, where it will face what many consider the best team in the country in Duke. The Coogs will be underdogs for the first time in a long while. But this is a team that has now won 30 of its last 31 games and is motivated to win Sampson his first title.
Auburn makes all No. 1’s in Final Four
Auburn senior Johni Broome is hard to miss on the court. He’s 6 feet 10 and 240 pounds and the center of gravity the Tigers revolve around on both ends of the floor. But he moves exclusively at his own pace – never sped up, never out of control – often bending the arc of the game in his direction, as opposed to the other way around.
It happened on Sunday against Michigan State, the SEC Player of the Year and first-team All-America forward putting on stark display why he is one of the best players in college basketball, leading No. 1 seed Auburn with 25 points and 14 rebounds in a 70-64 victory over the Spartans in the Elite Eight of the South Region to earn a place in the Final Four in San Antonio.
It’s why those cheering for the Tigers – in uniform, in the stands or watching from afar – held their collective breath when their star player landed awkwardly midway through the second half. Composed as always, Broome calmly walked off the floor and into the locker room with 10 minutes, 37 to play, favoring his right elbow and left ankle as his team clung to a 50-40 lead.
His absence was felt as much as his presence, evidenced by the roar of relief inside an Auburn-leaning State Farm Arena when Broome emerged from the tunnel and promptly checked back into the game with 5:29 remaining, the Tigers still in front by nine. CBS Sports’ Tracy Wolfson reported that Broome underwent X-rays that came back negative.