Houston is going to the Final Four after holding Tennessee to just 15 first-half points.
The No. 1 Cougars beat the No. 2 Volunteers, 69-50, in the Elite Eight on Sunday after amassing a 34-15 halftime lead. Tennessee’s fourth basket of the game came on its 23rd shot attempt. And that shot by Jordan Gainey simply cut a 21-point lead into a 29-10 advantage for Houston with 3:37 to play before the break.
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Tennessee was 1-of-15 from behind the 3-point line during the first half and missed its first 14 shots from behind the arc. The Vols’ first make came when Zakai Zeigler hit one with 39 seconds to go. That was Zeigler’s first field goal of the game as both he and Chaz Lanier went a combined 2-of-16 in the first half. Gainey was the only Tennessee player to make at least two baskets in the first 20 minutes.
The 15 points were the fewest a team has ever scored in a half in the Elite Eight and the fewest a team seeded No. 1 or No. 2 in the men’s NCAA tournament had ever scored in a single half of postseason basketball. It’s also the second-fewest points in a first half during March Madness this year. No. 5 Clemson scored 13 points in its first-round loss to No. 12 McNeese. The shot clock-era record for fewest points in a half was set in 2001 by Wake Forest and tied in 2008 by Kent State. Both teams had 10 points.
The 19-point halftime lead for Houston made the second half a formality. Both Tennessee and Houston are among the best defensive teams in the country — and perhaps the two best teams in college basketball. A 19-point lead for Houston can seem like twice as much with how tenacious the Cougars are.
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Tennessee’s defense affected Houston’s shooting in the first half too — but not nearly to the extent that Houston may have bothered the Volunteers. Houston shot 42% from the field and was just 3-of-10 from the 3-point line. But Houston also got nine offensive rebounds and scored 11 second-chance points. Tennessee had four second-chance points in the half despite all its missed shots
But even as Houston didn’t have a fantastic shooting day, the Cougars made up for it by not turning the ball over. Houston went over 20 minutes in a span stretching from the end of the first half into the second half without a turnover. Overall, Houston turned the ball over just five times and had more than twice as many points in the paint as the Volunteers.
Tennessee’s loss continues a Final Four drought that stretches over 26 tournament appearances. Only BYU (31), Xavier (29) and Missouri (28) have gone to the men’s NCAA tournament more without going to a Final Four. The ugly way the streak continued was summed up magnificently by this CBS camera shot of a disappointed Tennessee fan in the second half.
The Big 12 champions are making their second Final Four appearance in Kelvin Sampson’s tenure and have finally broken through as a No. 1 seed. Houston has been a No. 1 seed in each of the last three NCAA tournaments but was eliminated in the Sweet 16 in both 2024 and 2023.
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But this Houston team has been a more efficient offensive one than the previous two, even as there was a very close call in the Sweet 16. The Cougars needed a last-second bucket by Milos Uzan on an inbounds play to get past No. 4 Purdue and avoid a third straight exit in the third round.
There was no such drama Sunday. Tennessee never got Houston’s lead into single digits in the second half and Emanuel Sharp made sure to quell any hope of a Tennessee upset in the final six minutes. Sharp’s back-to-back 3-pointers gave Houston a 14-point lead with 4:42 to go and a 3-pointer by Mylik Wilson on the following possession put the game away for good. It was a fitting cap to the game for a team that leads college basketball at just under 40% from behind the arc.
Houston will likely be an underdog against Duke in the Final Four, but the Cougars present a fascinating matchup against the team that’s been the most dominant so far in the NCAA tournament. Houston has given up the fewest points per game of any team in college basketball and has the athletes to match up against Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils.
