Oklahoma Nearly Upsets Nation's No. 1 Team, Falls to Houston in Sampson's Return
NORMAN — In Kelvin Sampson’s return to Norman, the Houston Cougars slipped away with a tense victory over Oklahoma.
No. 1-ranked Houston took down the Sooners 87-85 on Saturday night behind 23 points from former Baylor guard LJ Cryer. For OU, Sam Godwin led the way with 17 points, seven rebounds and one assist.
OU tied the game at 85 when Godwin made a free throw with 17.9 seconds to play, the Sooners got the loose-ball rebound on Godwin's miss, and Javian McCollum drove to the basket for a layup with 11.8 seconds left.
After a Houston timeout, Jamal Shead missed his driving layup but gathered his own rebound and put it back with 0.4 seconds left for a dramatic two-point victory.
An OU win would have been it's first over a No. 1-ranked team since 2002.
"It was a tough vibe in (the locker room). It wasn’t like they were just happy to be close, I mean, they fought their tails off," Moser said after the game. "I thought they believed, their energy level, they made big plays. Obviously Houston made big plays as well. They’re hurting, and that’s a good sign."
The contest served as a successful homecoming for Sampson, Oklahoma's former head coach, and his staff loaded with former Sooners Kellen Sampson, Hollis Price and Quannas White.
After Houston struck first, the Sooners answered with an energizing dunk by Godwin and a 3-pointer from junior wing Jalon Moore to give OU a 5-3 advantage early in the first half.
Four consecutive points from Godwin helped Oklahoma build a 9-7 advantage, but a triple from Cougars' guard Emanuel Sharp gave Houston the lead.
With the Sooners' trailing 14-12, redshirt freshman big man Luke Northweather knocked down a deep 3-pointer that put Porter Moser's team ahead with just under 15 minutes left in the first half.
Another triple from Moore tied the game at 18 a few possessions later, drawing an eruption of cheers from the home crowd.
Deep shots continued to fall for Oklahoma, as McCollum knocked down a step-back from beyond the arc in transition to cut the growing Cougars' advantage to one.
The Sooners' briefly took the lead again on a Rivaldo Soares step-back triple that saw the senior guard get by a Houston defender with a nasty pump-fake. Fellow senior guard Le'Tre Darthard kept OU's momentum going with a deep 3-pointer of his own that brought the crowd at the Lloyd Noble Center to its feet.
Both squads continued to trade baskets, as Darthard connected on another triple and Moore finished a contested, and-one layup to put OU ahead 41-39 with less than three minutes until halftime.
After a 4-0 run from the Cougars, sophomore guard Milos Uzan knotted the game at 43 with under a minute left in the first half. The two teams traded free throws before a buzzer-beater off the glass gave Houston a 48-45 lead heading into the break.
The Sooners went 7-for-13 from beyond the arc and 10-for-10 from the free throw line in the game's first 20 minutes, also shooting 14-of-28 from the field.
The Cougars looked sharp coming out of the half, swiftly embarking on an 8-2 run that gave Sampson's team a 56-47 lead.
Godwin scored his second basket of the second half to break the run, followed by another mid-range shot for Uzan that brought Oklahoma back within five. Just as they had all game, however, Houston answered with a 3-pointer from Cryer.
Anytime OU started to gain momentum, the Cougars answered with a big shot of their own to keep the Sooners' at arm's length.
"We played the best team in the country, but we fell short," Moser said. "The margin for error when you play a team that good is small. A thing that sticks in my crawl is they scored five points in the last second of each half. … Our guys played with so much heart and belief and we’ve got to springboard that and continue to do it."
After an 8-0 run from Houston fueled by multiple Sooners' turnovers, Oklahoma trailed 63-51 with just over 13 minutes remaining. A few moments later, Soares hit a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer that brought the score to 69-58, but the Cougars responded once again with another triple.
A nice take to the basket by Soares, an alley oop from McCollum to Godwin and Darthard's fourth 3-pointer of the game cut Houston's lead to six, forcing Sampson to call a timeout with around seven and a half minutes remaining.
Coming out of the stoppage, Cryer drove into the paint and knocked down a floater to momentarily stop the Sooners' run. Darthard connected on another triple from the corner to bring OU within four, but Houston answered once again with a mid-range basket on the other end of the floor.
Two free throws from McCollum brought the score to 80-76 with less than four minutes in the game. The Lloyd Noble Center crowd was energized once again, loudly chanting "defense" every time the Cougars brought the ball down the court.
After an impressive acrobatic layup by Godwin pulled the Sooners within two, Sharp hit a heavily contested 3-pointer to push the score to 85-80. Uzan then scored and Oklahoma got a stop on defense to regain possession with 30 seconds left on the clock.
Following a free throw from Godwin, Uzan saved the ball from going out of bounds by throwing it off a Houston player and McCollum drove to the basket off of an inbound pass to tie the game at 85.
Shead then put the Cougars back in front. OU's inbounds pass to midcourt was deflected as the horn sounded.
The Sooners will take the court again on Tuesday at 7 p.m. to face the Cincinnati Bearcats at Lloyd Noble Center in an important game for the team's NCAA Tournament chances.
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