Jamal Shead scores 21 points to lead 5-seed Houston over 1-seed Arizona 72-60 in Regional Semifinal of the NCAA Tournament

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UPDATED: March 25, 2022 -- 8:59 a.m. CT

POSTED: March 25, 2022 -- 1:35 a.m. CT

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- (AT&T Center)

The 5th-seed Houston Cougars men's basketball team defeated the Arizona Wildcats, the 1-seed in the South Region, 72-60 Thursday night to advance to the Elite Eight of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

Houston (32-5) will face the 2-seed Villanova Wildcats, on TBS, on Saturday, March 26, in San Antonio, TX. Tip-off is set for 5:09 p.m. CT.

Jamal Shead scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to lead Houston. Shead and Kyler Edwards (13 of his 19 points in the second half) combined to scored 28 of Houston's 38 points in the second half and 40 of Houston's 72 points in the game.

"He's been doing that -- he's kind of thrust into a major role early, "Kelvin Sampson, Houston Head Coach, said of Shead after the game. "He just had to get better."

Shead scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half.

"You know, he has some older guys around him to help nurture him," Coach Sampson continued. "That was important. Then once he found his way, he got his wings, he started flying."

Shead is the fourth different player to lead Houston in scoring the last four games:

Fabian White led Houston in scoring in the win over Memphis in the American Athletic Conference Championship game; Kyler Edwards led the team in scoring in Houston's win over UAB to begin the NCAA Tournament; and Taze Moore led the Coogs in scoring in the win over Illinois in the Round of 32.

Houston never trailed in the ball game. Fabian White made a jumper to start the scoring. Then, Taze Moore added a three-point basket to put Houston on top 5-0.

Arizona's Dalen Terry scored a second-chance layup to put Arizona on the board; then, less than 1 minute later, Terry split two foul shots to cut Houston's lead to 5-3. The Wildcats did not get closer than 2 points the rest of the first half.

Moore got into foul trouble in the first half; but, freshman Ramon Walker Jr made a three-point shot and a pull-up jumper in the opening half. Walker's pull-up jumper put Houston on top 21-15.

Houston used a 6-0 run to increase the lead to 10 (29-19) with 5:31 to go in the first half.

Despite making just 7 of 25 (28.0 fg%) from the floor, Arizona stayed within striking distance in the first half thanks to making 10 of 14 from the free throw line.

Houston led 34-28 at halftime.

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Arizona's Christian Koloko split two free throws to cut Houston's lead to 34-29 with 19:34 on the clock. Then, seconds later, Koloko got an alley-oop dunk to pull the Wildcats within 34-31 of Houston with 19:01 remaining in the game.

Jamal Shead made a 3-point basket to boost Houston's lead to 37-31.

Arizona scored 4 straight points to cut Houston's lead to 2 points (37-35); but, Kyler Edwards nailed a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 5 (40-35) with 15:32 left in the ball game.

The Wildcats clawed within 42-40 before Shead made his second three-pointer of the half to stretch Houston's lead to 45-40. Shead made a driving layup to up Houston's lead to 47-40. Arizona's Bennedict Mathurin made a tough driving layup; however, Edwards nailed a pull-up three-pointer and Shead made 2 free throws to give Houston a 10 point lead (52-42) with 10:16 on the game clock.

Arizona moved within 54-47; but, Shead made 2 free throws and Edwards nailed another three-point shot to increase Houston's lead to 59-47 with 7:46 on the clock.

The Wildcats made another push and cut Houston's lead to 6 (64-58) with 2:12 left in the game. After 3 consecutive Houston turnovers, Kyler Edwards made a huge three-pointer to end Houston's scoring drought and push the lead to 9 (67-58) with 86 seconds to go in the game.

Houston got a breakaway dunk by forward J'Wan Roberts in the closing seconds as well as sealed the win at the foul line.

Arizona finished the game making 18 of 54 field goal attempts (33.3 fg%).

After the game, Wildcats' Head Coach Tommy Lloyd said, "Houston is one of those teams where you're better served off if you play them a couple times. I think the first time you play them, they do the things they're good at such a high level, that it's hard for you to get comfortable the first time around, and maybe the second time you play them, you can try to tell your guys what's coming, but they actually have a lot better feel for it actually having experienced it."

Coach Lloyd added, "They're great defensively. They're Number 1 or No. 2 ranked defense in the country for a reason. They're a hard team to get runs on because offensively they control the tempo and they're great offensive rebounding. It's hard to get multiple stops in a row to make those kind of runs.

"Defensively they didn't do anything we didn't expect. I think we probably need a little more experience going against it. I'm sure I'll go back, and when I watch the film, I'll pick up some things I wish I would have saw during the game, but that's always how it goes.

"They get a ton of credit. They do what they do, and they do it at a really high level. That's why they're consistently good."

Arizona committed 14 turnovers to Houston's 12; but, Houston outscored Arizona 24-6 in points off turnovers. The Coogs also outscored the Wildcats 19-13 in second-chance points; 15-13 in bench points; 26-18 in points in the paint and 12-9 in fast break points.

"I watched Arizona play. I watched them play UCLA. I watched them play Colorado," Coach Sampson remarked. "I watched the way those teams guarded them, and I knew we weren't going to guard them like those teams did. Those teams just switched them. They let them be comfortable. I knew we were going to make them uncomfortable. That's what we do.

"I knew their size would be a factor, but I didn't think their size was -- if we did what our game plan called for, I didn't think the size was going to make us lose. Our team, we're a tough bunch. We've gotten a lot better as the season goes on.

"But all the credit goes to these kids. I can do what I want. Coach doesn't win games, players do. I'm really proud of this bunch. They bought into the game plan tonight, and they're not afraid of anybody. Whether it's UAB or Illinois, Arizona. Our next game is Villanova. We'll just move on to that one, and we'll do the best we can with that one."

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