LJ Cryer's 22 points leads Coogs to 65-59 win over Kansas on Senior Night

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POSTED: March 4, 2025 -- 8:40 a.m. CT

HOUSTON, TX -- Fertitta Center

The Houston Cougars defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 65-59 Monday night on Senior Night. With the win Houston (26-4 overall, 18-1) set a Big 12 record for most conference wins in a season. The Coogs topped the previous record of 17 set by the 2019-20 Kansas team.

The Coogs have recorded 26-win seasons or better under Head Coach Kelvin Sampson in each of the last five years.

"That was a classic Big 12 slugfest," Coach Sampson, said after the game.

Prior to the game, Houston honored its 5 senior players: graduate guard LJ Cryer; senior big man Ja'Vier Francis; graduate forward J'Wan Roberts; senior forward Ramon Walker Jr; and graduate guard Mylik Wilson.

Houston used the lineup of junior point guard Milos Uzan along with LJ Cryer, Wilson, Roberts and Francis for the first time this season.

With the score tied at 4, Uzan picked up his second foul three minutes into the game and sat the rest of the first half. With Uzan on the bench, Houston's offense slowed down and became more deliberate. Houston trailed Kansas 6-4 when LJ Cryer hit a three-point shot and a step back jumper before teammate Emanuel Sharp rebounded his own miss and scored a layup.

Houston led 11-6 after the 7-0 run. Minutes later, Cryer hit a corner 3 to answer a three-point basket by Kansas guard David Coit. Cryer's basket snapped six consecutive missed shots from Houston.

Kansas made 4 of 5 field goal attempts and tied Houston at 23. KU extended its run to 9-0 to lead 25-23 and force a Houston timeout. After the timeout, Cryer hit another three-pointer and banked in a runner for a 28-25 Houston lead.

Houston led Kansas 30-27 at halftime. Cryer scored 18 points in the first half on 7 for 12 field goals including 4 for 6 from three-point range. Kansas committed 9 turnovers in the first half; however, Houston only scored 6 points off the turnovers.

Cryer picked up 2 fouls early in the second half and went to the bench with 16:54 on the clock.

Houston led Kansas, 42-39, with 11:59 on the clock and Cryer on the bench with his 4th foul.

In addition to Cryer's 4 fouls, Uzan and Mylik Wilson both had three fouls. Kansas took advantage of Houston's foul trouble in the backcourt and made 8 of 9 free throws to trail Houston, 50-48.

Houston led 57-52 Houston led 57-54 when Mylik Wilson stole a pass from KU center Hunter Dickinson and finished the play with a slam dunk for a 59-54 Houston lead with 4:14 left in the game.

On KU's next possession, Dickinson was called for an offensive foul for pushing Wilson to the floor. Dickinson finished the game matching his season-high 7 turnovers.

J'Wan Roberts missed a jump hook on Houston's possession. Then, Dickinson scored a jump hook of his own to cut Houston's lead to 59-56 with 3:05 remaining in the game.

Neither team scored until LJ Cryer rebounded Milos Uzan's missed turnaround jumper and scored a second chance layup with 100 seconds to go in the game.

After Dickinson committed his 7th turnover, Roberts missed a jump hook; but, Emanuel Sharp grabbed the offensive rebound. Sharp finished the game with a career-high tying 5 offensive rebounds.

After a 30-second Houston timeout, Cryer missed a step back jumper; but, Roberts pulled down the miss to keep Houston's possession alive with just 40 seconds on the clock.

Kansas was forced to foul to put Houston into the bonus. Ja'Vier Francis missed the front of a 1-and-1; and David Coit swished his 5th three-pointer of the game to slice Houston's lead to 61-59 with 20 seconds on the clock.

Kansas fouled Sharp. Sharp made both free throws; then, when Kansas' Zeke Mayo tried to inbound the ball to his teammate Dajuan Harris, Harris slipped and Cryer grabbed the loose ball. Cryer was fouled and sealed Houston's win with 2 made free throws.

Houston won the game despite shooting a season-low 35.3 fg% (24 for 68) in the game. Houston forced Kansas into 20 turnovers (16 steals) and outrebounded Kansas 17-5 on the offensive boards.

"We shot 35%. How did we win? Those are the things we are really good at," Coach Sampson remarked. "We had 17 offensive rebounds. We are a top-five offensive rebounding team in the country, year in and year out. We forced 20 turnovers. They attempted 42 shots, we attempted 68. We had 26 more shot attempts because we didn't turn the ball over. We had six turnovers, they had 20. That is 14 more shot attempts for us than the offensive rebounding."

Notes:

Houston improved to 5-3 in 2024-25 when Cryer scored 20+ points in a game. With Cryer on the bench with foul trouble, Houston's scoring slowed; but, Houston's defense remained solid. Cryer returned to the game minutes later but picked up his 4th foul when he dove for a loose ball after committing a turnover.

Mylik Wilson dished out a career-high six assists (as a member of the Coogs). His total topped his previous best of five against Jackson State (Dec. 9, 2023).

Next: Houston's next game is scheduled for Wednesday, January 29, at West Virginia. Tip is set for 6 pm CT on ESPN+.

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