Houston will take on Tennessee on Sunday after a 62-60 win over Purdue Friday night.
INDIANAPOLIS — The Houston Cougars made a go-ahead shot with under a second left on the clock to beat Purdue and advance to the Elite Eight, where they’ll face Tennessee.
With the score tied at 60 and just over two seconds left, Houston’s Milos Uzan, who scored a game-high 22 points, inbounded and got the ball back for the game-winning lay-in.
Houston won, 62-60.
More details coming…
Halftime
The Houston Cougars trailed the Purdue Boilermakers, 31-29, at halftime in a back-and-forth showdown with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
There were 10 lead changes in the first half of the game. For Houston, Milos Uzan leads the way with 12 points. Emanuel Sharp added eight. LJ Cryer, who scored 30 in Houston’s win over Gonzaga has been held scoreless on 0-6 shooting.
Purdue’s Fletcher Loyer leads the Boilermakers with 12 points.
Game preview
Houston and Purdue play in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
The Cougars have gone 22-1 against Big 12 teams, with a 10-3 record in non-conference play. Houston is 29-3 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents and averages 8.6 turnovers per game. UH finished the season as the No. 2 seed in the country while Purdue was No. 22.
The Boilermakers are 14-8 against Big Ten teams. Purdue is 1-2 in games decided by less than 4 points.
Houston scores 74.5 points per game, 3.9 more points than the 70.6 Purdue gives up. Purdue has shot at a 48.8% rate from the field this season, 10.4 percentage points greater than the 38.4% shooting opponents of Houston have averaged.
How they got here
Houston beat SIUE by 38 points to start their tournament. Then, they knocked off Gonzaga by 5.
Purdue beat High Point by 8 and McNeese by 14.
Top performers
LJ Cryer is scoring 15.6 points per game and averaging 2.2 rebounds for the Cougars. Emanuel Sharp is averaging 2.2 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Trey Kaufman-Renn is averaging 20.3 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Boilermakers. Braden Smith is averaging 14.9 points, eight assists and 1.5 steals over the past 10 games.
Last 10 games
Cougars: 10-0, averaging 72.2 points, 31.9 rebounds, 9.4 assists, 8.3 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 44.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.6 points per game.
Boilermakers: 5-5, averaging 75.9 points, 29.4 rebounds, 14.4 assists, 4.6 steals and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 47.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.9 points.