Coogs top Ohio State to advance to Sweet 16

The Saxenian Family

POSTED: March 24, 2019 -- 11:30 p.m. CDT

TULSA, OK (BOK CENTER) -- The Houston Cougars defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 74-59 Sunday night to advance to the Regional Semifinals (better known as the Sweet 16) to face the Kentucky Wildcats.

Houston's trip to the Sweet 16 is the first for the program since 1984.

"I think it means more to the fans than it does us," Kelvin Sampson, Houston Head Coach said. "'84? These guys weren't born. So that means nothing to them, you know. Like when they came here, everybody likes to talk about Phi Slama Jama. These kids didn't know who they were. They never heard ever them. That's for the old guys. But the five-year thing is significant. The 30 years is not. Since '83 it really isn't. That means a lot to our fans, though. They take pride in it. I saw a lot of proud Cougars up there behind us tonight and the ones I was happiest for were the guys that's been supporting this program since those days."

"Definitely a blessing (to reach the Sweet 16)," said Houston senior guard Galen Robinson Jr. after the game. "My mom keeps in contact with a lot of people and these people from middle school, all parents and stuff texting her, talking about supporting us, everybody been watching. It just feels good because everybody knows I'm a Houston kid. I never really thought about this. I was just worried about playing and getting on the floor. To be in this situation and, you know, with these guys that I love so much, Coach Sampson, man, you can't put a price tag on it. I really mean that, because we work so hard and to come up short the way we did last year, it hurt. To be able to advance this year, it means everything."

Houston (33-3) trailed Ohio State (20-15) 21 to 19 after Ohio State's Andre Wesson knocked down the Buckeye's fifth three-point shot of the half out of 8 attempts. The Buckets ended the half making 8 of 11 three point attempts.

Ohio State led 25-23 before Houston guard DeJon Jarreau scored a lay-up to tie the game at 25. Jarreau's lay-up began a 14-3 run by Houston. Houston led 39-31 at halftime.

The Buckeyes scored the first 4 points of the second half; but, Houston answered with 5 consecutive points to lead 44-35 at the 15:16 or the second half.

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The Saxenian Family

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Ohio State pulled within five points three times in the second half; however, Houston responded each time with points to lead by as much as 11 points in the half.

Back-to-back lay-ups from seniors Galen Robinson Jr and Corey Davis Jr. put Houston ahead 60-49 with 7:09 remaining in the game.

The Buckeyes did not make a field goal for more than 8 minutes; but, 9 of 10 free throw shooting kept Ohio State within arm's reach of Houston. Ohio State big man Kaleb Wesson ended the Buckeye's field goal drought with a lay-up at the 3:28 mark; but, Ohio State did not get closer than 9 in the final three minutes of the game.

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The Saxenian Family

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Corey Davis scored a game-high 21 points. Davis led 4 Coogs in double-digit scoring. Galen Robinson scored 13; sophomore Fabian White Jr. scored 11; and junior guard Armoni Brooks scored 10.

"I thought our best player tonight was our senior point guard, Galen Robinson," Sampson remarked. "Has nothing to do with his points. The most overrated thing sometimes is evaluating someone based on how many points he scores. I seen a lot of guys play horrible and score a bunch of points. I've seen some guys that play great, score hardly. Brison Gresham tonight is by far our best big guy. I'm sure he scored. I can't remember. Three for three, three for four. It was his defense."

Houston only shot 26.3% (5 for 19) from three-point range; but, they shot 56.7% (21 for 37) from two-point range. After red-hot three-point shooting in the first half, Ohio State made 2 of 18 three-point attempts in the second half. C.J. Jackson scored a team-high 18 points for Ohio State.

"Holding Kaleb Wesson had 7 shot attempts, 6 of them 3s," Coach Sampson commented. "That means we won that battle. If we got him taking 3s, that's a good thing for us. I just thought that our guys executed defensively what we wanted to do. After about the 8, 9 minutes into the game -- we weren't letting them get too comfortable. We can't let you get comfortable. Ball movement was excellent. Galen just competed hard. Corey -- Corey doesn't have to shoot the ball well to play well. These two guys, they're just warriors, tough kids. That's our program. Our program is built on competing and playing with a chip and never losing that chip. That's important. I tell the kids all the time once they leave our program and they go out into life, "Don't ever lose your chip, man." That's important to live your live with it because that gives you a competitive edge."

NEXT:

Houston faces 2-seed Kentucky, Friday, March 29, at 9 p.m. (TBS), in a Regional Semifinal game, in Kansas City, MO.

CLICK HERE for The HRR's write-ups of Coogs' men's hoops games.