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University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
31-4,19-1Big 12
(16) SIUE
22-12,13-7OVC
#2/2 (1) Cougars Rout SIUE in NCAA Tournament First Round
3/20/2025 5:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Houston advances to the second round for the seventh-straight season
WICHITA, Kan. – Junior guard Milos Uzan scored 16 points, graduate guard LJ Cryer added 15 and the #2/2 (1) University of Houston Men's Basketball program was able to rest up for the rest of the NCAA Tournament while romping past (16) SIUE 78-40 during the First Round of the Midwest Region inside INTRUST Bank Arena on Thursday afternoon.
Senior forward Ja'Vier Francis added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Big 12 champs, who will carry a 14-game winning streak into a Second-Round matchup with eighth-seeded Gonzaga or No. 9 seed Georgia. Houston (31-4) has won 26 of its last 27 overall.
"I thought our defense and our rebounding, two of the things we really emphasize, was good today," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. "Shot selection was really good to start the game - knocked some shots down, got off to a good start."
Allowing only 40 points to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament champions, the Cougars set a school record for fewest points allowed in an NCAA Tournament game. The total topped the previous low of 46 in an 86-46 win over (16) Longwood during the NCAA Tournament South Region First Round inside FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn., on March 22, 2024
Ray'Sean Taylor had 10 points for SIUE (22-12), which was just 2 of 24 from the 3-point arc in its first NCAA appearance.
"It's definitely a gut-punch because I feel like we had more to give for sure," said Taylor, breaking down in tears. "When I look back at it, I'm not going to be mad about the game. I don't like to lose, but I'm never going to hold my head down ever. I never let anyone see me with my head down. They played better than us today.
"Good luck to them. They have a team to win it all."
It's never a good formula for springing an NCAA upset to let what is arguably the best defensive team in the country also shoot better than 60% from the field and only turn it over twice during the first 20 minutes of a game.
That's exactly what SIUE did against Houston.
The Cougars probably knew they were in for a tough afternoon against a bigger, more athletic bunch of Cougars in the first few minutes, when Houston scored on nine straight offensive possessions. At the other end, SIUE struggled just to get shots off - at one point, guard Brian Taylor II was trapped so quickly that he genuinely looked perplexed.
The whole affair may have been summed up by the last 3 seconds of the first half: SIUE forward Myles Thompson was trapped near midcourt, turned the ball over, and Cryer promptly drilled a 3 from the wing to give Houston a 52-24 lead.
Sampson's bunch kept extending the lead all the way to the finish.
"They were physical, made some shots early when we had a couple breakdowns, and then they hit some really hard shots as well," SIUE coach Brian Barone said. "We weren't able to dig out of that hole."
SIU Edwardsville may have had more fans - or at least louder ones - than Houston for its NCAA tourney debut. They cheered all the way to the finish, too, when Barone took his starters out of the game.
Houston was no doubt pleased to see graduate forward J'Wan Roberts moving around fine on the ankle he sprained in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. He was able to spend much of the second half resting with the rest of the Cougars' starters on the bench.
The Cougars advanced to the Second Round in its seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament.
UP NEXT
Houston will face the winner of (8) Gonzaga-(9) Georgia on Saturday inside INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan. Game time and broadcasting network will be announced Thursday evening.
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