No. 5 Houston survived number 12 Kansas in double overtime 92-86 at Allen Fieldhouse in a Saturday game that was close throughout its 50 minutes of play.
The Cougars Mylik Wilson scored a 3-point basket with two seconds left in the first overtime to tie the score 79-79 and force a second overtime period. that of Houston Milos Uzan tip Zeke MayoThe inbounds went under the basket and Wilson caught the deflection. The senior then stepped behind the arc for his game-tying shot.
Kansas handed the ball over after Houston Emmanuel Sharp hit a 3 to make it 79-76 with eight seconds left. Before that, the Jayhawks appeared to have won the game when Rylan Griffen hit a 3 with 55 seconds left to give Kansas a four-point lead. Griffen added two free throws with 28 seconds remaining for a 79-73 margin.
Dajuan Harris Jr. then missed two free throws that could have opened an eight-point lead for the Jayhawks. The misses allowed Sharp’s 3-pointer and Uzan’s fateful steal.
In the second overtime period, Houston continued to score 3 points. Sharp and Uzan hit back-to-back 3s to help the Cougars take a five-point lead that they held despite Mayo scoring five points to keep Kansas within range.
Sharp and Uzan each made two free throws to ultimately put the game away.
The largest lead Kansas built was nine points to open the second half. But Houston rallied to take a 48-42 lead. The Jayhawks fought back to take a 58-52 lead before the Cougars pulled away until the end of regulation.
J’Wan Roberts scored a game-high 24 points with nine rebounds and five assists for Houston, which improved to 16-3 overall and 8-0 in the Big 12. Wilson followed with 18 points, shooting 2 of 3 from 3 and hitting the match. the most important blow. Uzan added 17 points with nine assists, while Sharp had eight points in his late game heroics.
With the loss, Kansas fell to 14-5 and 5-3, good for fourth place in the Big 12. Flory Bidunga led the Jayhawks with 19 points and seven rebounds, and Hunter Dickinson scored 17 with eight rebounds. Mayo added 16 points and nine rebounds, and Harris dished out 12 assists. His two missed free throws undoubtedly cost Kansas the game.
Houston will next go to No. 23 West Virginia (13-6) Wednesday, as Kansas tries to rebound against UCF (13-6) in a Tuesday match.