Kelvin Sampson has great answer about why Houston beat Kansas

After close losses to Auburn and Alabama to begin the season, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson knew his team needed to mature.

And the Cougars did just that.

Coming into Saturday's Big 12 men's basketball showdown at Kansas, Houston had won 11 consecutive games and was 7-0 in the tough-as-nails Big 12. The Cougars last loss was nearly two months ago — way back on Nov. 30 to San Diego State on overtime.

But Houston had not yet beaten a team like Kansas.

Every time it looked like the Jayhawks were going to put the game away on Saturday, Houston answered back. It ultimately led to a 92-86 Houston victory in double overtime. When asked about how his team pulled out the victory, Sampson had a great answer.

"November was a good teaching point for us," Sampson said. "I thought we were good enough to beat Auburn. I thought we were good enough to beat Alabama. But I don't think we were ready. I don't think we were in a position to beat them then. We had too much stuff we had to get better at, and this team has done that."

JoJo Tugler 'A Big Old Bull'

The biggest moment for Houston (16-3, 8-0) came late in the first overtime, trailing 79-73 with 18 seconds left. After Kansas (14-5, 5-3) point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. missed two free throws, Houston guard 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 Mylik Wilson, who stepped back and drilled a game-tying 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left.

"The biggest thing was putting JoJo on the ball," Sampson said when asked about how Houston got the turnover on the baseline out-of-bounds play. "JoJo takes everything vertical away. So now the denies come left and right. JoJo's like a big old bull that's snorting at you and stomping his hooves and whipping his tail around. I mean, he's a factor. And then from there you can tell there's some kids that it's like a a quarterback, when the defensive ends get on top of him he stops looking at his receivers and starts looking at the defensive players. And it makes your press a little bit better."

Sharp, who scored just eight points and sat for long stretches of the game, battled through a foot injury to make some big plays in overtime. But it was his backup, senior guard Mylik Wilson, who hit the biggest shot of the game. Wilson finished with 18 points and 6 rebounds off the bench.

"I took Emanuel out, whose probably been our best three-point shooter this year," Sampson said. "But he hasn't practiced all week. ... He got hurt in practice on Monday. ... I put Mylik in for that reason, because Mylik, athletically, can deny the perimeter. At least a left and right pass."

Milos Uzan's Breakout Game

Houston point guard Milos Uzan, an Oklahoma transfer, is the one who actually deflected the pass. It was one of several huge plays Uzan made in the overtime periods. He finished with 17 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists and no turnovers.

"There's not a point guard in the country I respect more than Dajuan Harris. He's just a winner," Sampson said. "Twelve assists, one turnover. But this young man here [Milos Uzan], he's a rebound and assist away from a triple double. He couldn't do that in November. He wasn't ready. He was deferring and almost apologizing for not passing the ball to somebody."

Sampson knows Saturday night was a turning point for not only for Uzan, but also his entire team.

"I know the significance of winning here for anybody," said Sampson. "There's far, far better coaches than I am that haven't won here for different reasons. But to win the way we won in double overtime I think speaks to this program's culture, how tough our kids are, and our ability to hang in there."

"I thought our maturity showed tonight. We had some guys not play very good, but they played hard and they played tough, and sometimes that's enough."