Oregon State’s surprise run ends with loss to Houston
Houston overcame a blown 17-point lead to hold off Oregon State 67-61 on Monday night in the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, reaching the Final Four for the first time in 37 years.
Quentin Grimes hit a 3-pointer with 3:21 left to break a 55-all tie. The second-seeded Cougars (28-3) spent the first half building a big lead behind a dominant defense, but they spent the second half hanging on as the 12th-seeded Beavers tried to add one more surprising result to a Midwest Region bracket beset by upsets.
Grimes’ 3 from near the top of the arc finally steadied the Cougars, and Houston knocked down enough free throws down the stretch while holding Oregon State without a basket during a critical 3 1/2 minutes.
That sent the Cougars on to the national semifinals to face the Arkansas-Baylor winner, which wasn’t yet determined when this edition went to press. It wasn’t always pretty, with Houston shooting 29% after halftime and 32% for the game. Yet it also exemplified the program’s rugged defense-first identity under coach Kelvin Sampson, who has led Houston to accomplishments it hadn’t matched since the famed “Phi Slama Jama” days of the 1980s.
Marcus Sasser scored 20 points to lead Houston while Grimes added 18. Fittingly, it was DeJon Jarreau — the American Athletic Conference’s defensive player of the year who led the effort that stymied Oregon State star Ethan Thompson — who was named the most outstanding player of the Midwest Region.
Jarreau finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists two days after another flirtation with tripledouble and shutting down Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim in the Sweet 16.
This will be Houston’s first Final Four since Hakeem Olajuwon and coach Guy Lewis led the Cougars to the 1984 title game, in which they lost to Patrick Ewing and Georgetown. When this one was over, Houston’s players sprinted to midcourt to celebrate, then migrated to the corner of the court near the Houston fan section and started jumping around — and on top of each other — in a celebratory mob.
Jarreau shared a long embrace with coach Kelvin Sampson at midcourt, the reward for Sampson in his seventh season of returning a once-proud program to national prominence.
Maurice Calloo scored 13 points to lead Oregon State (20-13), which was vying to become the lowestseeded team ever to make a Final Four. But Thompson finished with 11 points on 3-for-12 shooting after averaging 20.3 points in the Beavers’ NCAA victories against Tennessee, Oklahoma State and Loyola Chicago.
GONZAGA TRUSTS DEFENSE ENTERING USC GAME >> Gonzaga has spent its entire season pushing tempo, knocking down shots and rolling to comfortable wins with one of the best offenses college basketball has seen in two decades.
The Zags’ push for perfection hasn’t ignored the other end of the court, either. The No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament enters today’s West Region final against USC as one of the national leaders in defensive efficiency. Do they get enough credit for their work on the defensive end?
“I don’t think they do,” coach Mark Few said of his players. “I think we’ve had some excellent, I mean, offthe-chart performances and some terrific halves.”
The Bulldogs (29-0) rank seventh in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency by allowing 88.6 points per 100 possessions. They’ve held opponents below their scoring average in 20 games, including the past six, despite playing a fast tempo.
The sixth-seeded Trojans (25-7) will test that unit. USC has shot 54.8% in NCAA Tournament wins against Drake, Kansas and Oregon to reach its first Elite Eight in 20 years, including making 21 of 35 3-pointers (60%) against the Jayhawks and Ducks. The matchup of USC’s Mobley brothers against the Gonzaga big men will be one to watch.
DENVER NAMES STANFORD ASSISTANT WULBRUN NEW HEAD COACH >> Denver named Stanford assistant coach Jeff Wulbrun as its new head coach on Monday. Wulbrun has three decades of coaching experience — 21 collegiately — and spent the past five seasons with the Cardinal.
“Denver basketball will be in good hands with Jeff as the head coach,” said Stanford coach Jerod Haase. “He is incredibly prepared for this opportunity and has a vision of success that will be realized soon. While I am personally sad to see him leave, I am excited for him as he embarks on this new adventure.”
Wulbrun was a member of Haase’s staff in each of the past eight seasons at both Stanford and UAB. His relationship with Haase dates back nearly three decades when he first recruited and signed Haase as a member of the Cal coaching staff.
Over a college coaching career that spans 20 years, Wulbrun has helped guide three different programs – Cal, Illinois State and UAB – to the NCAA Tournament.
OKLAHOMA STATE GIVES BOYNTON EXTENSION >> Oklahoma State agreed to a seven-year contract extension with Mike Boynton that will keep the head coach in place through the 2027-28 season, the school announced. The new deal will pay the fourth-year coach $3 million per year, beginning in July.
Boynton, the youngest coach in the Big 12 at 39, led the Cowboys to a 21-9 record, a berth in the Big 12 tournament title game and a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Cowboys advanced to the second round before losing to Oregon State.
KENTUCKY ADDS DAVIDSON STAR>> Kentucky added former Davidson guard Kellan Grady to its roster. The graduate transfer scored 2,002 career points with the Wildcats.
Grady is expected to graduate from Davidson in May and will be eligible to play next season for Kentucky under NCAA rules. He was the Atlantic 10 Conference school’s sixth player to score at least 2,000 career points and averaged more than 17.1 points per game in all four seasons. Grady shot 47% overall with 240 3-pointers at Davidson, making a career-best 38.2% from behind the arc last season.