INDIANAPOLIS – They stood together in a huddle at the end of the bench during the final minute Saturday night, the University of Houston’s starting five, arms wrapped around each other.
They cried.
They told each what a memorable season it was. How, in a college basketball season played with the backdrop of a global pandemic, the Cougars stood tall as one of the last four teams remaining.
“We had a great run,” sophomore guard Marcus Sasser said. “We just fell short.”
The best season for the Cougars in 37 years came to an end with a 78-59 blowout loss to Baylor in the national semifinals at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“This loss stings today,” coach Kelvin Sampson said after the Cougars’ first Final Four appearance since 1984. “It will sting tomorrow. But we’ll get through this. Losing in the Final Four to one of the two best teams in the country – we’re not going to hang our heads over that.”
Baylor (27-2) will play the Gonzaga-UCLA winner on Monday, seeking to become just the second Texas school to win a national championship. Texas Western, now UTEP, beat Kentucky in 1966 for the only title by a school from the Lone Star State.
As Sampson began his post-game press conference, he mentioned how 355 college basketball teams began the season with the same goal and some of the same roadblocks. He called it “the toughest year for any of us,” with games postponed or called due to COVID-19, quarantines, weekly testing, empty arenas and a three-week “bubble” during the NCAA Tournament.
“You start the season off as one of 355 hoping that you are one of 68 (to make the NCAA Tournament),” Sampson said. “Then you go from 68 trying to get to 32, 32 to 16, and if you are really, really fortunate and have a really good team you get from 16 to eight. And the same thing, eight to four. This team went from 355 to 4.”
Along the journey, the Cougars won 28 games and the American Athletic Conference tournament championship. They staged a comeback to beat Rutgers in the second round and solved Syracuse’s 2-3 zone in the Sweet 16. They took the next step by hanging on to beat Oregon State in the Elite Eight.
After losing in the second round and Sweet 16 in the previous trips, Sampson said the Cougars needed to “take the next step.”
A Herculean challenge waited Saturday. Baylor – in the Final Four for the first time since 1950 – has been on a collision course with Gonzaga all season, and the Bears did their part in a near-perfect opening 20 minutes.
Baylor was bigger. More physical. And, simply, could not miss.
The Bears shot 57.1 percent from the floor, including 8-of-15 from 3-point range, in the first half. Davion Mitchell hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 45-20 halftime lead, the largest deficit at any point this season for UH.
Even with the nation’s top 3-point defense, the Cougars entered the game with the impossible challenge of stopping the Bears’ talented backcourt that included All-American guards Jared Butler and Mitchell. Butler (17) and Mitchell (12) did all their damage in the first half. The other members of Baylor’s deep guard rotation – Matthew Mayer (12), MaCio Teague (11) and Adam Flagler (seven) – combined for 30 points.
“That’s the best team I’ve seen in the seven years I’ve been at Houston,” Sampson said.
UH (28-4) was making its first Final Four appearance since three straight trips by Phi Slama Jama in 1982-84. Any chance the Cougars had of another trip to the title game was gone by the 16:46 mark after Sasser’s 3-pointer gave UH an 8-6 lead. From there, Baylor went on a 16-3 run to take a double-digit lead and never let up. Butler had eight points, including back-to-back 3s, during an 11-0 run just before halftime. Baylor had eight of their 11 3s before halftime, shooting 53.3 percent from beyond the arc.
“(Assistant) coach (Alvin Brooks III) did a great job on the scout,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “I think we were prepared. And our guys really did a great job buying into – locking in on assignments and tendencies.”
Sasser had 17 points in the first half, including five 3s. The rest of the Cougars went a combined 1-of-15 for three points. Quentin Grimes, UH’s All-American guard, went 0-for-5 in the first half and did not score until two minutes into the second half. DeJon Jarreau was 1-for-7 with five turnovers.
UH struggled with two of its calling cards. Defensively they couldn’t get stops, and the Bears held a 33-28 rebounding edge.
“We didn’t play well,” Sampson said. “That team we played had a lot to do with it.”
For UH, it was like bringing a water gun to a pistol fight. Like a 125-pounder in the heavyweight division. Or riding a bicycle in the Indy 500.
The Cougars made up some ground in the second half, shooting 48.3 percent, but never got closer than 16 as Baylor never let up. Sasser had only three points in the second half. Grimes finished with 13 points, all after halftime, on 4-of-12 shooting. Jarreau, who was named the Midwest Regional’s most outstanding player, had six points on 3-of-10 shooting with five turnovers.
With less than two minutes left, Sampson substituted Jarreau, a part of UH’s rise the past three seasons, from the game. They hugged in front of the bench.
Then Grimes took a seat. And then Justin Gorham and Sasser with 50 seconds left.
“We’ll be back,” Sampson said. He added: “The perception of our program has changed. And our program has changed. I can't wait to play in front of sellouts next year. This is going to be exciting. But this team will never be forgotten. They broke the ground. They showed it can be done. And now it's up to these ensuing teams to stake their ground too. I’m looking forward to it.”
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