Houston Defeats Virginia 69-61 | Live Updates
The No. 5 Houston Cougars (11-1, 0-0 AAC) handed the No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers (8-1, 1-0 ACC) their first loss of the season 69-61 on Saturday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena. See play-by-play and live analysis for the game below.
Read a full recap of the game here: "Tougher, Sounder" Houston Hands Virginia First Loss of the Season 69-61
Final Score: Houston 69, Virginia 61
Beekman is fouled by Chaney, who fouls out of the game. Beekman makes the first, but misses the second. UVA continues to foul to extend the game, but this one seems to be a foregone conclusion. Sasser makes both free throws and Houston leads 65-54. Clark drives baseline and kicks to Armaan Franklin, who splashes the corner three. Clark fouls Tramon Mark, who makes both free throws. Clark drives inside and sends a short bounce pass to Kadin Shedrick, who lays it in. Mark is fouled and makes both free throws again. Shedrick works his way inside and Houston lets him throw down the dunk. UVA calls off the dogs and concedes the game. Houston hands Virginia its first loss of the season, 69-61.
Houston 69, Virginia 61 | Final
Sasser misses the front end of the one-and-one, giving UVA a small chance to get back into the game. Kadin Shedrick hands off to Vander Plas, who air-balls a three-pointer. UVA fouls Jarace Walker, who goes to the line and makes both free throws. He has 17 points to lead all scorers.
Houston 63, Virginia 53 | 54.8 2H
Virginia runs a great play out of the timeout and McKneely gets an open look from three but he misses it. Houston gets Sasser going downhill off of a screen and he lays it in off the glass. Virginia has an answer as Beekman penetrates and dumps off to Shedrick for a dunk. Houston silences the crowd once again as Walker kicks out to Mark for another three-pointer. That could be the dagger as Houston goes up by nine with just over two minutes to play. UVA turns it over and then Jarace Walker hits an incredible heavily-contested fallaway jumper. Isaac McKneely slashes down the lane and finishes a tough layup plus the foul. McKneely makes the free throw to make it an eight-point game. Virginia begins to foul to extend the game.
Houston 61, Virginia 53 | 1:11 2H
Virginia runs a nice play out of the timeout, as Reece Beekman sends a long lob to the basket and Kadin Shedrick finishes the alley-oop layup. J'Wan Roberts has the answer for Houston on the other end with a short jumper. Beekman intercepts a pass and then misses an open three, but Shedrick is there for the putback. Virginia gets another stop as Beekman plays great defense on Sasser and then Gardner draws a foul at the other end. Gardner goes 1/2 from the line. Houston gets another offensive rebound and that leads to an open corner three from Walker off the feed from Chaney after UVA played 50 seconds of defense. Gardner is fouled on the other end and makes both free throws. Clark picks Shead's pocket at halfcourt and takes it the other way for an easy layup. Virginia forces another Houston turnover at the other end and JPJ goes wild. UVA down six with less than four minutes to play.
Houston 54, Virginia 48 | 3:42 2H
Gardner misses another open jumper, this time from the baseline. Armaan Franklin slashes from the corner and draws a foul on Chaney. Franklin makes both free throws. Clark uses a hesitation move to get inside and draws a foul on Shead. Clark swishes both free throws and UVA is back within seven and the crowd is back in the game. Houston gets a big bucket to silence the crowd as Chaney drives baseline and kicks out to Shead for an open three. Vander Plas misses quick-trigger corner three and Virginia is now 5/17 from beyond the arc.
Houston 49, Virginia 39 | 7:41 2H
Early in the second half, Jayden Gardner has gotten two quality open looks from just above the free throw line, usually a sweet spot for him, but he's missed both of them. Kadin Shedrick is fouled by Roberts in the post and sinks both free throws. Shead penetrates and kicks out to Mark for a wide open corner three. Houston has its largest lead of the game at 43-32. Beekman drives on Sasser and whips a pass to the corner to Isaac McKneely, who pump-fakes and steps to the side before draining the three-pointer. The Cougars are starting to have their way on the offensive glass. Another second-chance opportunity sends Tramon Mark to the free throw line after Shedrick picks up his third foul and exits the game. Mark goes 1/2 from the line. Houston loses the ball but somehow keeps it in bounds with a couple of last-ditch saves and that leads to a dunk for Reggie Chaney and the Cougars go back up by 11 points.
Houston 46, Virginia 35 | 11:18 2H
Kadin Shedrick sends a feed across to Jayden Gardner, who finishes the tough layup despite getting fouled twice with no call. Shedrick is then whistled for a questionable blocking foul, as Walker finishes the basket and makes the ensuing free throw. Gardner gets free behind the Houston defense on the baseline and Clark gets him the ball with a long pass for an easy basket. Jamal Shead uses the same exact jump-stop move Clark used in the first half, but the refs don't call the travel this time and Shead knocks down the jumper. Jarace Walker hits a three-pointer on the left wing to stretch the Houston lead to eight points. Marcus Sasser leaks down the floor after a missed UVA three and Roberts feeds him the ball and Sasser slashes to the basket for a lefty layup in transition. That's a 7-0 run for the Cougars, who now lead 40-30. Tony Bennett calls timeout.
Houston 40, Virginia 30 | 16:03 2H
Virginia gets a much-needed bucket as Armaan Franklin hits a three-pointer from the right wing off the feed from Beekman. Jarace Walker responds right away, working his way inside for a jump hook. Kihei Clark misses a corner three, but Gardner grabs the long rebound and immediately hits a baseline jumper. Walker answers again, hitting a long pull-up jumper from just inside the arc. Armaan Franklin slashes inside and finishes off the glass to pull UVA back within four. Sasser misses a pull-up three and UVA holds for the last shot. Beekman dishes for Franklin but not with enough time for him to attempt a layup as the shot clock expires with 1.4 seconds left in the half. Houston doesn't get a shot off before the half, but the Cougars still take a 30-26 lead into halftime.
Houston 30, Virginia 26 | Halftime
Marcus Sasser knocks down another three to put Houston back in front. Clark finds Shedrick down low and Shedrick patiently lets a couple of Houston shot-blockers fly by before slamming down the open dunk. Shedrick is called for goaltending on a layup attempt by Shead and then Shedrick is called for a moving screen on the other end and is subbed out of the game. Kihei Clark uses a great jump-stop move, draws a foul and finishes the layup, but the ref on the other end of the floor calls Clark for a travel. Houston takes advantage of the call as Tramon Mark gets to the basket for a layup. Vander Plas has the ball poked away and that leads to a transition three-pointer for Marcus Sasser. The Cougars are on a 7-0 run over the last two minutes and a 19-4 run over the last eight minutes and now lead 26-19. Tony Bennett calls timeout.
Houston 26, Virginia 19 | 4:40 1H
J'Wan Roberts gets inside and finishes a layup. He has six of Houston's 11 points. Virginia forces a shot-clock violation and naturally, John Paul Jones Arena goes wild. Tramon Mark drives inside and kicks out to Marcus Sasser for an open three. UVA's offense has gone cold, going more than four minutes without scoring. Jarace Walker sends a pass down low to J'Wan Roberts who finishes the dunk to give the Cougars their first lead of the game. Virginia has an answer as Gardner grabs an offensive rebound and lays it in.
Houston 16, Virginia 17 | 7:08 1H
Jamal Shead uses a spin move to get into the paint and then elevates over Clark for a floater. Ben Vander Plas air-balls a three-pointer and then Marcus Sasser breaks down the UVA defense before dishing to Ja'Vier Francis, who finishes a reverse layup plus a foul on Armaan Franklin, Francis completes the three-point play at the line and Houston is on a 7-0 run. Isaac McKneely is in the game now and he ends the Houston run with a catch-and-shoot triple off the feed from Clark. Vander Plas pump-fakes and drives inside before kicking out to Reece Beekman, who drains the open three. That's back-to-back threes for Virginia. J'Wan Roberts grabs the offensive rebound off of Sasser's missed three and lays it in.
Houston 9, Virginia 15 | 11:58 1H
UVA gets a stop on Houston's first possession and then Kihei Clark hits a pull-up three-pointer as the shot-clock expires. Virginia gets another stop and this crowd at JPJ is already getting into it. Clark uses a hesitation move to get inside and is fouled on a floater and makes both free throws to put UVA up 5-0 early. Virginia pushes the tempo a couple of times and both of those trips result in turnovers as Beekman and Clark have the ball poked away from them. UVA continues to smother Houston on defense and then Clark feeds down low to Kadin Shedrick for a dunk. Jamal Shead misses a three-pointer and then Jayden Gardner draws a foul on a baseline drive on the other end. Gardner makes both free throws and UVA leads 9-0. Houston nearly turns it over but the ball comes down to J'Wan Roberts on the low block for an easy layup to get the Cougars on the board four minutes into the game.
Houston 2, Virginia 9 | 15:35 1H
