If basketball had been a magnificence pageant, the Houston Cougars would not be invited. There’s not a lot flash and definitely nothing horny about the best way Kelvin Sampson’s crew performs basketball.
And that is completely okay. The Cougars are stunning in their very own means.
For years, Houston has flourished with in-your-face protection, relentless stress and eat-nails-for-breakfast toughness. In Saturday evening’s semifinal 70-67 win over Duke, it wanted each ounce of these three issues to advance.
The Cougars trailed by 14 with 8:17 to play and by 9 with 3:03 remaining. Even their comeback was a grind. Although Houston outscored Duke 15-3 within the remaining three minutes, nothing was straightforward. However it was completely Houston, and it has the Cougars competing for his or her first nationwide championship since 1984.
The comeback required Houston to lean into its identification and, in the end, 5 issues that helped it win over Duke.
Protection
It is Houston’s calling card, and when it wanted it most, the protection confirmed up. Duke scored just one discipline aim within the remaining 10:31, making simply two of its remaining 11 pictures. The Cougars pressured 5 turnovers in that span after Duke had solely turned the ball over twice within the earlier half-hour.
