THE BIGGEST TEST
Beating top-seeded Bears would extend Cougars’ dream to ‘do something really special’
INDIANAPOLIS — Back when the NCAA Tournament bracket was announced, University of Houston coach Kelvin Sampson joked the Cougars would “see how long we can stay on the dance floor.”
Nearly three weeks later, UH’s dance-a-thon continues with Saturday’s national semifinal against Baylor at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Regardless of the outcome, a Texas team is guaranteed to play in the national championship game — against the Gonzaga-UCLA winner — for just the fifth time in the 82-year history of the NCAA Tournament. No Texas team has won the national title since 1966 when Texas Western started five Black players against Adolph Rupp’s allwhite Kentucky in the championship game and won, 72-65.
Only four Texas schools (UH, Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor) in the 55 years since have advanced to the Final Four. UH (1983-84) and Texas Tech (2019) are the only ones to reach the title game.
“We still dancing,” guard DeJon Jarreau said after the Cougars beat Oregon State on Monday to advance to their first Final Four since 1984.
Yes, the Cougars are. The degree of difficulty in opponents, not dance moves, stand in the way of the school’s first men’s basketball national championship.
Baylor (26-2) overcame a late-season COVID-19 pause to remain, along with top-seeded Gonzaga, as the sexy picks to reach the national title game. The No. 1 seed in the South Region has rarely been challenged in reaching the Final Four for the first time since 1950.
“Tournament started with 68 (schools) and it’s down to four,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “Everybody wants the same thing. Whoever plays the best over that 40 minutes advances.”
UH (28-3) survived an upset-filled Midwest Region, overcoming a second-half deficit to beat Rutgers in the second round and escaping No. 12 Oregon State in the Elite Eight. The Cougars became the first school to reach the Final Four without facing a single-digit seed.
Advantage, Baylor? “Every round we get even more confidence and we feel like we’re supposed to be there,” All-America guard Quentin Grimes said. “I don’t feel like there’s a lot of pressure.”
There are similarities between UH and Baylor. Both teams are athletic. Both feed off defense. Both can rebound. And backcourts will take center stage.
Baylor features a pair of AllAmericans, Jared Butler (16.5 points per game) and Davion Mitchell (14.0), MaCio Teague (15.9) and 6-5, 250-pounder Mark Vital, whom Sampson calls the Bears’ “enforcer.”
“Watching them on tape … I’m going ‘Holy smokes is Baylor good,’ ” Sampson said. He added: “They’ve got so many dynamic players.”
UH counters with guards Grimes (18.0), DeJon Jarreau (10.8), Marcus Sasser (13.5) and Tramon Mark (8.0).
“We’re going to do what got us here, and they’re going to do what got them here,” Drew said.
One stat that caught Sampson’s attention this week was how Baylor makes opponents pay for mistakes. The Bears are averaging 21 points off turnovers. That was on display in games against Villanova and Arkansas when they forced 16 and 15 turnovers, respectively. Lacking a prolific scoring team, Sampson said, UH has to “balance the playing field” with defense and rebounding.
“That’s the most incredible stat of any stat I’ve ever seen,” Sampson said. “It makes you realize if you can take care of the ball you have a chance. But everybody says that. It’s easy to see, but it’s almost impossible to do.”
Even with the graduation of Chris Harris Jr. from last year’s squad, the early departure of Nate Hinton for the NBA draft, the offseason knee injury to Fabian White Jr. and Caleb Mills’ decision to transfer in January, the Cougars put together a remarkable 28-win season and third straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
“I feel like we knew that before the season started,” Grimes said of the Cougars’ chances to “do something really special.”
This could be just the beginning. The program is set up for stability with Sampson signed through the 2026-27, and a succession plan in place with head coach-in-waiting Kellen Sampson. Facilities are among the best in the country; the Guy V. Lewis Development Facility is expected to undergo upgrades in the offseason. A banner will be placed on a wall inside Fertitta Center. A bling worthy Final Four ring will be designed.
“This memory will last them a lifetime,” Sampson said. “They’ll tell their grandchildren about this. Their mothers and fathers, their families and friends were watching them and experiencing it from afar. But these guys put in the work. They all had their story.
“We’ve taken a group of kids to get them to believe, and they’ve accomplished something that they will — no matter what happens this weekend, it’s something that nobody can take from them, and they’ll always be known as a Final Four participant. They played in the Final Four. They earned it too. I mean, they earned it.”