Sharp, Cryer pull No. 2 Houston past BYU, snapping 9-game win streak in Big 12 semifinal

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — BYU's finish wasn't much better than its start in Friday's Big 12 men's basketball semifinals.

LJ Cryer and Emanuel Sharp scorched the nets with 20 and 26 points, respectively, as No. 2 Houston tore through No. 17 BYU 74-54 to advance to the Big 12 Tournament semifinals at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

Keba Keita had a career-high 14 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks to lead BYU (24-9), Richie Saunders added 10 points and six rebounds, and Dawson Baker supplied 11 points off the bench in BYU's first loss in nine games.

But the Cougars with the nine-game winning streak shot just 6-of-28 from 3-point range a day after making a tournament-record 18 triples against Iowa State, compared to 10 3-pointers for the Cougars riding an 11-game win streak.

Or make it an even dozen, as well as back-to-back Big 12 Tournament titles games to improve to 4-1 in two seasons at the event.

"They're an amazing team, and I learned a lot from playing against them," BYU coach Kevin Young said of facing the opposing Cougars for the first time since a 31-point loss on Jan. 4. "But I think it was a combination of our inability to make open shots.

"But the thing that they do really well is multiple efforts, you know?" he added. "They take one thing away and you think you got 'em on a swing-swing or something like that, and they do a great job of continuing to play with multiple efforts. That's a credit to their coaching staff to get that done on a nightly basis."

Playing without top rebounder J'Wan Roberts, who watched the game from the bench in sweats and a medical boot after suffering an ankle injury in the quarterfinals against Colorado, Houston (29-4) was out to validate its standing as a projected No. 1 seed in next week's NCAA Tournament.

Boy, did they.

The red Cougars yielded the rebounding battle 39-37, but got enough for their needs from Mylik Wilson's 13. They also got seven blocks, nine steals, and 12 offensive rebounds that led to 13 second-chance points.

But mostly, it was about the guards, including Milos Uzan's 14 points and five assists in Houston's 12th straight win.

BYU had more turnovers (4) and wedgies (2) than points before Baker broke the seal for the lower-seeded Cougars with 13:16 left in the half.

The former UC Irvine transfer converted a 3-point play at that moment as Houston opened the game on a 15-0 run in the first six minutes. It didn't get much better, either.

"Poor start by our club," Young said. "We came out a little flat, honestly. Not sure why in a big game like that, but we couldn't throw it in the ocean to start the game; 3-of-16 in the first half from the three, which is obviously unlike us so that kinda put us in mud.

"But, look, Houston is a really good team," he added. "They lost one game in the conference for a reason. Coach Kelvin Sampson knows what he's doing obviously, so you have to give them all the credit. I thought our guys battled back in the second half to make a couple of runs but fell short."

Cryer had 12 points in the first half for Houston, including a 3-pointer in the final minute that helped the regular-season champs to a 13-2 run for a 41-20 halftime lead.

The mascots were the same, but Shasta wasn't Cosmo as BYU shot just 6-of-30 from the field and 3-of-16 from the arc against a Houston team that had five blocks, five steals and converted nine turnovers into 11 points.

Saunders led BYU with 8 points and four rebounds at the break.

Houston led by as much as 21 early in the second half. Three lobs and back-to-back blocks on the defensive end by Keita spurred a comeback, and Saunders pulled BYU within 45-32 with a dunk in transition during a 12-4 spurt to start the half.

The junior from Bamako, Mali, shot 6-of-9 from the field and did all his scoring on layups, dunks or short-range jumpers to go along with two free throws, two blocks and a career-best five offensive rebounds to pace 13 second-chance points.

"We had to pick the energy up; we knew we were better than that," the Utah transfer said. "We just had to go out there and be the most physical team out there. Play our game, not play on our heels; that was our mindset. Just punch first."

But Sharp ended the run with back-to-back 3-pointers to send BYU back home to await its NCAA Tournament selection Sunday afternoon.

"We knew they were going to go on a run. We just had to survive it," Sharp said. "We made some dumb plays, me included, at the beginning of the second half, and that's really what it was. Once we cracked down on that we started playing better."

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