INDIANAPOLIS — Milos Uzan soared for an uncontested layup on a beautifully executed inbound play with 0.9 seconds left, and No. 1 seed Houston survived a late collapse to beat fourth-seeded Purdue, 62-60, on Friday night in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Houston led 56-46 with just under eight minutes remaining but made only one field goal from there until Uzan’s tiebreaking bucket. He inbounded the ball from the baseline to Joseph Tugler, who threw a bounce pass back to Uzan, and the 6-foot-4 junior took it to the rim.
Coach Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars (33-4) advanced to the Elite Eight for the third time in five years after falling in the Sweet 16 as a top seed in the previous two editions of March Madness. They’ll take the nation’s longest winning streak, 16 games, into Sunday’s Midwest Region final against No. 2 seed Tennessee.
Houston, the Big 12 regular-season and tournament champion, became the fourth No. 1 seed to reach the Elite Eight. The Cougars haven’t lost since Feb. 1 and won this time at Lucas Oil Stadium, where their 2021 tourney run ended with a loss in the Final Four to eventual national champion Baylor.
Uzan scored 22 points and Emanuel Sharp had 17 as Houston survived an off night from leading scorer L.J. Cryer, who finished with five points on 2-of-13 shooting.
Fletcher Loyer scored 16 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn had 14 and Big Ten player of the year Braden Smith added seven points and 15 assists to lead Purdue (24-12). Smith assisted on all 11 second-half baskets for last year’s national runner-up, which played in front of a friendly crowd about an hour’s drive from its campus in West Lafayette.
Houston appeared on the verge of disaster when Kaufman-Renn scored on a dunk and then blocked Cryer’s shot with 1:17 to go, leading to Camden Heide’s 3 that tied the score at 60 with 35 seconds left.
Sampson called timeout to set up the final play, but Uzan missed a turnaround jumper and Tugler’s tip-in rolled off the rim and out of bounds. The Cougars got one more chance after a replay review confirmed the ball went off of Purdue, and Uzan took over from there.
Smith’s half-court heave was an airball at the buzzer, giving this March Madness a rare dramatic finish in a tough, physical contest with players repeatedly hitting the floor.
Sharpe had a scoring flurry early in the second half to give Houston some separation. His 3-pointer at the 16:14 mark made it 40-32. After Purdue trimmed the deficit to four, Uzan made two 3s to give Houston a 10-point lead.
