LAWRENCE, Kan. — With 51.5 seconds remaining in regulation, as Houston Coach Kelvin Sampson called timeout after that Kansas protects Rylan Griffin She buried a 3 to put the Jayhawks up by 4, and Sampson’s wife, Karen, emerged from her seat behind the Cougars’ bench, said goodbye to the cute Kansas fans who sat next to her and began walking around the Allen Fieldhouse concourse.
The coach’s wife knows how these things usually end.
It was always Kansas that made the miracle play, the wild comeback, justifying the “Beware of Fog” sign hanging in the rafters. Once her husband had a 16-point lead in this building as Oklahoma’s coach. He lost it. Sampson coached eight times at Allen Fieldhouse, losing eight times.
But on Saturday night, the ghosts were confused. Luck was on the Cougars’ side in their 92-86 double overtime victory to remain perfect in Big 12 play. How else do you explain it with 20 seconds remaining in the first overtime and Kansas leading by 6 after LJ Cryer hit a corner 3 and Kansas Point Guard of the Year Sixth, Dajuan Harris rebounded the foul ball and headed to the line with 18.3 seconds left in the game. Is it Houston that will win this game?
In his first 72 games at Allen Fieldhouse, Harris missed both free throws on a trip to the goal line just once. According to Ken Pomeroy’s calculations, Houston had a 0.4% chance of winning at that point, which seems a little high.
Harris missed both free throws.
Houston Center Joseph Togler Miss rebounded and gave it to Milos Ozanwho dribbled to the far baseline, jumped and fired a pass to Emanuel Sharp. Sharpe injured his ankle on Monday and missed Wednesday’s win vs Utah It is practiced on Saturday morning for the first time all week. He caught the ball about 6 feet behind the 3-point line Zeke Mayo Inches away and I fired 3 anyway. It went through the net with 7.5 seconds left, giving Houston a glimmer of hope.
The Cougars had already extended the game by not letting Kansas run the ball with 16.6 seconds left when Mayo ran the baseline trying to look for a teammate around the giant shadow of Tuggler and his 7-foot-6 wingspan. Mayo was called for a 5-second violation which gave the ball back to Houston and allowed it Jewan Roberts To send the game to overtime with two free throws.
“JoJo is like a big bull that snorts at you, stomps his hooves and beats his tail,” Sampson said. “I mean he’s a worker.”
Sampson fired his bull again after that Sharp 3, and poor Mayo was once again tasked with trying to find someone to pass it to.
This time, Mayo, when the referee’s count reached four, attempted to pass a pass to Hunter Dickinson. Mayo didn’t hit it high enough, and Ozant reached into the air and swatted it away with his hand, sending the ball straight to the sixth-year keeper. Melek Wilson. Wilson began his career in Louisiana, then moved to… Texas Tech It made him a defensive specialist. He left after one season in Lubbock and transferred to Houston. “He didn’t have any confidence,” said Houston assistant Anthony Goldwire, who was an intern four years ago at Louisiana in Wilson’s final season there.
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Wilson redshirted his first year in Houston, and only played in pick-and-roll games on game days.
Wednesday against Utah, he made a season-high 11 field goal attempts. He made two dunks, but missed all nine jumpers. He filmed every morning with Goldwire, and on Friday mornings, Wilson would take an extra hour of filming. The work was paid off early Saturday night. Wilson got into territory in the first half and kept Houston within 7 at halftime by scoring 9 points on perfect 4-of-4 shooting. When the ball landed in his hands with 7.5 seconds, he had already tied the most points he had ever scored (15) for Cougars. Wilson had made just eight 3-pointers all season, but without hesitation, he took one dribble with his left hand to make sure he was behind the goal line and made the biggest shot of his life, tying the score with 4.3 seconds left. .
“It’s been a crazy ride,” Wilson said afterward. “I stayed in the gym, kept working year after year, and now it’s here. I’m here.”
After Mayo moved up the left half court, Sharpe sprinted down the floor, headed straight for Wilson and summed it up for everyone: “Oh my God.”
In the second overtime, Sampson continued to run plays to get the ball to sixth-year forward Jejuan Roberts at the left elbow, and continued to get to his left hook. When Roberts arrived in Houston, he redshirted. In his senior season, he averaged 1.4 field goal attempts per game; The following year he averaged 2.1.
“We had a lot of shooters that I played with — Quentin Grimes, Marcus (Sasser), Caleb (Mills), Tramon (Mark) — I just let them do their thing and just try to find different ways to score and impact wins.” Roberts said. “When I wasn’t first or second choice, I took the ball off the edge and scored that way.”
Sampson says Roberts didn’t have that hook shot when he arrived. “He’s lying,” Roberts said with a broad smile. “I worked on it, and it got much better.”
But Roberts certainly wasn’t anyone you’d ever imagine would be the focal point of Houston’s offense. Now, in his sixth year in Houston, that’s exactly what he’s become. When Roberts is guarded by smaller defenders, Sampson threads his attack through Roberts in the post. And against bigger guys, Sampson tries to get him down where he can get up and swing those beautiful left hooks. Roberts continued to exchange blows with Dickinson and Flory Bidongaa group that nearly won the game for Kansas several times, but Roberts and the Cougars had a few upsets left.
The player, accustomed to only grabbing offensive rebounds, made 21 shots and scored a career-high 24 points, including 9 in the second overtime.
“Twenty-one crazy shots!” Roberts said. “I hit the ball 10 more times because I believe in myself and I believe in the work I do.”
Karen Sampson eventually bounced back when it was clear her 69-year-old husband was about to cross an item off the list and win at Allen Fieldhouse. I took a picture of the scoreboard so she would have documentation that this actually happened.
Houston 92, Kansas 86.
(Hunter Dickinson and J. One Roberts photo: Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
