Kelvin Sampson's brilliant play leads to game-winning layup for Houston
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Kelvin Sampson continues to show why he's one of the best coaches in college basketball — and one of the best to ever do it.
Houston's 69-year-old coach won career game No. 703 on Saturday with a brilliant sideline out-of-bounds play with 3.2 seconds left.
Trailing UCF 68-67, Houston ran a stack play on the ball-side lane line that led to a wide-open post entry into senior forward J'Wan Roberts. After gathering the pass, Roberts spun baseline and converted a left-handed layup to give Houston a 69-68 lead with under 1 second to play.
UCF did not get a final shot off, and Houston escaped with the one-point win. The Cougars are now 6-0 in the Big 12 and 14-3 overall. They came into the game ranked No. 3 in the country in the NCAA NET Rankings.
Watch the game-winning sideline out-of-bounds play:
J'WAN ROBERTS WINS IT FOR HOUSTON 🔥pic.twitter.com/QAFo5Gafs7
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) January 18, 2025
Roberts led Houston with 21 points and 9 rebounds and continues to state his case for Big 12 Player of the Year. Through six conference games, Roberts is averaging 15.2 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 59% from the field.
Ja'Vier Francis came off the bench to have his best game of the season, scoring 16 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in 25 minutes. Guards L.J. Cryer and Emanuel Sharp struggled offensively, combining to shoot just 6-of-24 from the field and 3-of-13 from the 3-point line.
The Cougars trailed 38-30 at halftime, then started the second half on a 9-0 run to take the lead. The teams traded leads in the second before the dramatic final seconds.
Houston struggled to defend without fouling, something that plagued them in nonconference play. They committed 20 fouls and Roberts, Sharp and Mylik Wilson all committed four fouls and struggled to stay out of foul trouble.
The Cougars could be only in first place in the Big 12 after Saturday. They entered the day tied with Arizona and Iowa State atop the standings, but Arizona lost to Texas Tech 70-54 and Iowa State is trailing West Virginia at halftime.
The Cougars are back in action on Tuesday with a home game vs. Utah.
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-e38922f5e70fe8e84438a7cbcffaf7c2.jpg "Ben Sherman")
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his 27-year journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. A basketball junkie, March Madness is his favorite time of the year.
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