Houston guard Mylik Wilson (8) slams the team’s sticker on the bracket after beating BYU in the Big 12 Semifinal, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Kansas City, Missouri. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar
When Houston men’s basketball entered the Big 12 tournament semifinals with graduate forward J’Wan Roberts, the winningest player in school history, sidelined in a boot, a dominant win seemed like it would be harder to come by.
But the top seed, Houston, got the job done, claiming a 74-54 win over No. 4 seed BYU on Friday in Kansas City, Mo., punching its ticket to its second straight conference championship.
With Roberts being out after spraining his ankle in Thursday’s contest, Houston’s guards stepped up in a big way.
Redshirt junior guard Emanuel Sharp finished with a season high 26 points and graduate guard L.J. Cryer recorded 20.
Graduate guard Mylik Wilson recorded two season highs of 13 rebounds and two blocks.
In the frontcourt, sophomore forward Joseph Tugler led the charge, tallying two blocks, three steals and five rebounds, while graduate forward Ja’Vier Francis contributed three blocks off the bench.
But it wasn’t just individual performances. Houston’s collective defense, which rarely wavered, snagged 25 defensive rebounds, claimed nine steals, blocked seven shots and held BYU to 21.4% from beyond the arc.
The blue Cougars set a Big 12 Tournament record with 18 made 3-pointers in Thursday’s quarterfinals. On Friday, they only hit six 3-pointers during the entire game.
“We let defense fuel us to anything that we want to do,” Roberts said. “It’s great to score, but we don’t really focus too much on offense.”
Still the offense seized the moment. Sharp made five from beyond the arc. Early in the game, he drained a 3-pointer and drew a foul, giving UH a 15-0 lead.
His shot built on Houston’s dominant defensive start, which kept BYU scoreless until the 13:17 mark.
Houston seems to have a knack for dulling the blue Cougar’s roar.
The Cougars held BYU to its lowest point total of the season at 54.
BYU’s second lowest total, 55, also occurred against Houston on Jan. 4.
They had never been more quiet in a first half, and Houston ended the period on an 18-4 run to bring the halftime score to 41-20.
BYU showed some life with a 12-7 run that cut Houston’s lead to 13 in the second half, but Sharp quickly silenced the surge, draining 3-pointers on consecutive possessions. Houston then grew its lead to as much as 22 during the game.
“We knew they were going to go on a run,” Sharp said. “We just had to survive it.”
Next, Houston will face No. 3 seed Arizona on Saturday, March 15, at 5 p.m.
sports@thedailycougar.com
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“Houston silences BYU, advances to Big 12 championship” was originally posted on The Cougar