Texas two-step: Houston, Baylor end Final Four droughts

Houston overcame a blown 17-point lead Monday night in Indianapolis to hold off Oregon State 67-61 in the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Final Four for the first time in 37 years. Quentin Grimes’ 3-pointer with 3:21 left broke 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.

The Cougars will play Baylor in the national semifinals. Marcus Sasser scored 20 points to lead Houston while Grimes added 18. 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.

Maurice Calloo scored 13 points to lead Oregon State (20-13), which was vying to become the worst-seeded team ever to make a Final Four.

No. 1 men’s seed Baylor 81, No. 3 Arkansas 72: The Bears (26-2) reached the Final Four for the first time in 71 years, getting 22 points from Macio Teague to beat the Razorbacks (25-7). JD Notae and Davonte Davis had 14 apiece for Arkansas, which came up a game short of its first Final Four in 26 years.

No. 1 women’s seed Uconn 69, No. 2 Baylor 67: Freshman Paige Bueckers scored 28 points as Uconn reached a 13th consecutive Final Four, where it will face Arizona on Friday. The Huskies (28-1) trailed 55-45 late in the third quarter before scoring 19 consecutive points, including 10 by Bueckers. Dijonai Carrington had 22 points for Baylor (28-3).

No. 3 women’s seed Arizona 66, No. 4 Indiana 53: Aari Mcdonald scored 33 points as the Wildcats (20-5) earned their first trip to the Final Four. Mackenzie Holmes scored 20 for Indiana (21-6), which was playing its first Elite Eight game.