SHE WHISTLES AS HE WINS
For the first time in years, Edwards’ mother watches him help Cougars knock off Arizona
SAN ANTONIO — Lori Alexander doesn’t watch a lot of basketball games she attends.
Her coping mechanism for handling the pressure of watching her baby, a bearded 6-foot-4 young man who is one of the toughest players in the country, is to leave her seat and pace around the arena, crying and praying.
But there she was Thursday night, rockin’ and swayin’ with the boisterous University of Houston faithful inside the AT&T Center.
Screaming, whistling, cheering on her son, Kyler Edwards.
“Tonight was the first night that I watched a game and, oh, it was amazing,” Alexander said after Edwards scored 19 points and drained a game-high five 3-pointers to help UH to a 72-60 win over Arizona in a South Regional semifinal. “I know he heard me. Did you hear those whistles? That was me.
“I think every time I whistled at him, he made a three.”
Whether Alexander’s whistles were responsible for Edwards hot second-half shooting might be up for debate, but there is no doubt the treys were rather timely.
Edwards seemingly drained a three-pointer whenever Arizona threatened to make a game of it. Like when the Wildcats pulled within two at 37-35 five minutes into the second half, and when they cut the lead to five with 11 minutes remaining.
He was surprised his mother saw them.
“She’s too nervous,” Edwards said. “It means the world that she watched tonight, because I’m blessed to have the support of my family and she’s been my No. 1 supporter since I was a baby.”
Alexander used to watch her son play all the time. In fact, she was his first coach, guiding the YMCA team he started on as a 4-year-old to three unbeaten championship years.
By the time Edwards was starring in high school at Arlington Bowie, then Findlay Prep, Alexander said she could still watch the games. But after he went to college — he played three years at Texas Tech before transferring to Houston — the pressure got her out of her seat and onto the concourse.
“I just couldn’t take it,” Alexander said.
Her friend Nicole McKinney brought her out from the back near the end of the Cougars’ second-round win over Illinois a week ago in Pittsburgh, and convinced her to stay in the stands Thursday.
“I was so proud to be able to see my kid do what he did tonight,” Alexander said. “This was really the first game that I enjoyed in a very long time. There were no tears, no anxiety, because I had no fear that they would lose. None.” Related Links
Indeed, UH was in control from the moment Fabian White Jr. scored the game’s first points with a runner, 24 seconds in.
Part of that was because of UH’s stifling defense, which is often led by Edwards, who UH coach Kelvin Sampson says is the team’s best defender.
The Wildcats came in averaging 84.6 points per game, but had their secondworst scoring night of the season against the Cougars (32-5).
Bennedict Mathurin, the Pac-12 Player of the Year and a projected NBA lottery pick, missed his first six shots and didn’t have a field goal until 1:35 remaining in the first half.
“The best thing they did, watching the game (tape), was fast breaks,” Edwards said. “They only had nine fast-break points. Credit to the coaches for getting us ready for this game, and just being together and being the toughest team.”
Edwards’ backcourt mate Jamal Shead led UH with 21 points as the Cougars advanced to the Elite Eight for the second straight year.
Edwards, who has played in 11 NCAA Tournament games, is hoping to return to the Final Four. As a freshman at Texas Tech, he scored 12 points in a championship game loss to Virginia.
“We’re 40 minutes away,” he said.
Alexander says she is certain she will be watching. She couldn’t stop smiling as she imagined it.
“I’ve overcome it,” she said. “I’ve overcome the anxiety.
“What a night.” What a night, indeed. I asked Alexander if the Edwards and the Cougars would have another great night Saturday against No. 2 seed Villanova.
She hummed the UH fight song as an answer.