Houston rallies from 10-point halftime hole
When Marcus Sasser felt the occasional twinge in his groin, he simply blocked it out. With so much on the line, he was determined to stay on the court for topseeded Houston.
Now, he’s got almost a week to recuperate before the Sweet 16.
Tramon Mark scored a career-best 26 points and Sasser added 22, including five three-pointers, as the Cougars stif led local favorite Auburn in the second half for an 81-64 victory in the NCAA tournament on Saturday night at Birmingham, Ala.
The Cougars (33-3) wiped out a 10-point halftime deficit, returning with a chip on their shoulders.
“We came out on fire,” Mark said. “Everything was clicking for us.”
Essentially shutting down the lane, Houston played with the desperation of a championship contender determined not to suffer the same fate as Purdue and Kansas — No. 1s that already were sent home.
Now the Cougars are heading to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the last five years under Kelvin Sampson, to face either No. 4 Indiana or No. 5 Miami in Kansas City, Mo. But their eyes are really on the Final Four, which is right in their own backyard at NRG Stadium in Houston.
All eyes were on Sasser as he continued to deal with a
groin injury that forced him to sit out the second half of Houston’s NCAA opener. But the All-American was determined to go all the way in this one. The only thing that sent him to the bench was foul trouble.
“I probably felt it a couple of times,” said Sasser, who played nearly 31 minutes. “But it was pain I could go through and keep pushing.”
Houston doesn’t play again until Friday. More time for Sasser to heal.
The ninth-seeded Tigers (21-13) were doomed by a
stretch of more than 101⁄2 minutes without a field goal and finished just four for 24 in the second half.
Auburn did draw fouls, only to struggle mightily at the line, making 19 of 36.
“I kind of wish it were a 20-minute game instead of a 40-minute game,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “They came out and guarded us much harder, much better. And we didn’t respond to it.”
When Sasser swished a three-pointer to push Houston back ahead, 46-45, he let
out a scream. He finished five for nine beyond the arc.
Fouls were his only real issue. The All-American guard and his running mate, point guard Jamal Shead, both were forced to the bench with four fouls apiece with the game still in doubt.
But Mark kept the Cougars rolling, and the the big guys simply refused to let Auburn back in the game. Houston had 12 blocks, half of them swatted away by Jarace Walker, with five more shots turned away by J’Wan Roberts.
“The biggest adjustment was in our attitude,” Sampson said. “I was almost glad it was Auburn’s ball first [in the second half], because I thought we needed to set the tone with a stop.”
It lasted an entire half.
Texas 71, Penn State 65:
Dylan Disu scored a seasonhigh 28 points on 14-for-20 shooting, steadying the Longhorns down the stretch and leading them to their first regional in 15 years with a victory in the second round at Des Moines, Iowa.
The second-seeded Longhorns (28-8) made just one of 13 shots from threepoint land, so Disu turned this one into a mid-range game. He went five for five over the final 41⁄2 minutes and grabbed 10 rebounds. Sir’Jabari Rice added 13 points for Texas, which will play the Pittsburgh-Xavier winner on Friday.
Camren Wynter had 16 points for the 10th-seeded Nittany Lions (23-14), who were coming off their first tournament victory in 20 years. Second-team AllAmerican Jalen Pickett had 11 points and 10 rebounds with seven turnovers.
Andrew Funk (12 points) and Seth Lundy (11 points) rallied after a scoreless first half for each, but the top two three-point shooters in the Big Ten went a combined four for 16. Penn State was eight for 28 from deep.