What No. 2 Houston Cougars said about Big 12 semifinal tilt with No. 17 BYU

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — By any account, No. 2 Houston men's basketball is as about as good it gets nationally, with back-to-back Big 12 titles, a suffocating defense, and a national coach of the year candidate in Kelvin Sampson.

But Sampson had a worried look on his face when he made his way to the postgame media dais inside the T-Mobile Center after the Cougars' 77-68 win over upstart Colorado in Thursday's Big 12 quarterfinals.

Maybe it was simply relief for holding off an upset against the 16th-seeded Buffaloes, who won three straight games for the first time since Dec. 21 with back-to-back wins in the opening rounds of the Big 12 Tournament. Or maybe it had to do with holding the Buffs to just 38% shooting in the second half, including just 1-of-9 from 3-point range.

Perhaps it was a look of concern for J'Wan Roberts, who had just 2 points and three rebounds in 18 minutes before an ankle injury in the second half.

Or maybe Sampson took a look at the game before his team's own, when BYU made a Big 12 Tournament-record 18 3-pointers en route to a 96-92 win over a shorthanded Iowa State for the blue Cougars' ninth consecutive win with some nerves.

Whatever it was, there are things that Sampson and his team need to consider. Houston isn't at any risk of missing out on the NCAA Tournament — the Cougars are currently projected as a No. 1 seed in the latest mock bracket by ESPN's Joe Lunardi.

But the difference between a one or a two seed — with Florida, Duke and Auburn among the teams also fighting for a spot on the top line — may come down to Houston's performance in Kansas City.

The two-time Associated Press national coach of the year who just won the same honors by the Sporting News after the 2024-25 regular season was only focusing on what's directly in front of him Thursday afternoon.

"I don't know how we're going to play them," Sampson said of BYU, which was led by Richie Saunders' 23 points and five assists. "We will watch some film tonight and play them tomorrow at 6."

The two Cougars met just once during the regular season, when Houston pulled away for an 86-55 home win on Jan. 4. That may feel like an eternity in today's college basketball age, and for good reasons, with these two teams.

BYU (24-8) is on a nine-game winning streak, playing like the No. 2 team in the country during that span according to barttorvik.com.

The fourth-seeded Cougars are sharing the ball well after dishing 24 assists on 30 made field goals in the win over the Cyclones, while three-and-D specialists Mawot Mag and Trey Stewart have propelled a 10-man rotation to four wins over ranked opponents in four weeks.

Of course, their opponent is also playing about as well as any team in the country. Houston lost just once in Big 12 play, an 82-81 overtime setback on Feb. 1 that preceded an 11-game winning streak of its own.

Emanuel Sharp scored 19 points, and LJ Cryer and Milos Uzan added 14 points apiece to lead Houston against Colorado. Cryer, a first-team All-Big 12 selection by league coaches and AP All-Big 12 player of the year, is averaging a team-high 15.3 points on 42% shooting that includes 42.3% from 3-point range.

"I feel like everybody on our team is playing really confident," Cryer said. "We got more trust in each other, we just got good continuity right now so we just gotta keep it up."

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