Houston finally gets signature win vs. Kansas: 3 takeaways

In improbable fashion, the Houston Cougars found a way to pick up their first Quadrant 1 victory of the season on Saturday night.

Trailing Kansas by six points with 18 seconds left in overtime, the Cougars scored six points in the final 8 seconds to tie the game and send it to double overtime. Houston's will prevailed in the second overtime as Kelvin Sampson's squad closed out a 92-86 victory that moved the Cougars to 8-0 in the Big 12.

Forward J'Wan Roberts led Houston with 24 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, and guard Milos Uzan racked up 17 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Mylik Wilson came off the bench to score 18 huge points for Houston (16-3, 8-0).

Houston Finally Gets Quad 1 Win

Coming into the game, Houston was 0-3 in Quad 1 games, which are defined as home victories over a top 30 team in the NCAA NET Rankings, or road wins over a top 50 team in the NET. The NET Rankings are important because the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses the NET as the primary sorting tool for selection and seeding for the NCAA tournament.

Despite a high national ranking and an impressive record, ESPN's most recent Bracketology projections had Houston slotted as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament because of their lack of a signature win. The Cougars played a tough nonconference schedule, but lost to Auburn by five, Alabama in overtime and San Diego State in overtime.

Saturday's result was a huge step in the right direction for the Cougars, who have at least eight more Quad 1 opportunities on their schedule.

Horrendous Free Throw Shooting

It's hard to imagine two high-level Division I college basketball teams shooting a combined 56% from the free throw line on 55 attempts — but that's exactly what happened.

Houston went 14-of-25 from the line, with Roberts being the biggest offender. He was just 4-of-9, but he hit two big free throws late in regulation to tie the game.

Kansas (14-5, 5-3) was 17-of-30 from the line and missed eight free throws in the overtime periods. Junior guard AJ Storr was 0-of-4 from the line.

Kansas Blows Late Lead

It looked like Kansas had the game won at the end of the first overtime. The Jayhawks led 79-73 with 18 seconds left and Dajuan Harris Jr. heading to the free throw line to shoot two shots.

Harris Jr. missed both free throws, Houston's JoJo Tugler got the rebound and Emanuel Sharp hit a deep 3-pointer to cut the lead to 79-76 with 7.5 seconds left. After a Kansas timeout, Zeke Mayo's inbounds pass was deflected by Milos Uzan, right into the arms of Wilson, who stepped back and drilled a game-tying 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left.

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— Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾 (@UHCougarMBK) January 26, 2025

It was a remarkable turn of events for the Cougars, who looked like they were headed to their third overtime loss of the season.