SAN ANTONIO — Saturday's round of 8 matchup between No. 2-seeded Villanova and No. 5-seeded Houston was reminiscent of the college basketball games played ...
“Credit Villanova,” he said. A few missed shots and some lost rebounds kept Sampson’s team short of the Final Four it had wanted. Houston feeds off its opponents’ mistakes, but Villanova is a disciplined team that limits them. He led the Wildcats in points (15.9) and assists (3.3) this season while battling ankle injuries. - 1 Kansas799 Creighton72 - 1 Gonzaga684 Arkansas74 - 1 Gonzaga829 Memphis78 In a lot of close games this year, somebody stepped up.” Houston’s defense, which had been suffocating during its second half run, forced a turnover but could not capitalize, and by the time Villanova’s star guard Collin Gillespie drained two late free throws, the Cougars’ chances were gone. It was a little street fight every possession trying to get a rebound.” In the end, Coach Jay Wright’s Villanova team was too aggressive, too poised and too focused for Houston, which seemed ill-prepared to face an opponent it had so much in common with. The other, Villanova, has been looking to reposition itself as one of Division I’s most feared programs after a few dismal tournament seasons.
Two of college hoops' most efficient offenses relied on defense as Nova won an Elite Eight rock fight.
#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/dvWwZt1c25 March 27, 2022 Wildcats win! Villanova's win over Houston gave the program its fourth Final Four appearance since 2009 and its third (!) in the last six tournaments. Only seven Wildcats got into the game Saturday and one of them played three minutes. The severity of the injury is unknown, but the reaction here ... well, it's not crazy to think he could be out the rest of the tournament. The bracket's decidedly more tricky this time around -- No. 1 seed Kansas may await the Wildcats in the next round -- but they can absolutely finish the job like they did the two previous times. Houston's 44 points were its fewest in a game since 2015. Villanova's 50 points were its fewest in a game since 2018. "If you'd had told me before the game that we were going to hold them to 28% shooting from the field and 23% from the 3-point line, and we'd lose, I wouldn't have believed you," said Houston coach Kelvin Sampson. "Our kids guarded. If you had the under, which landed at 127, you had reason to celebrate early. It was Houston's worst shooting performance from the field since the 2013-14 season and its worst mark from 3-point range in over a decade, according to College Basketball Reference. They held the red-hot Cougars, which eliminated No. 1 seed Arizona in the Sweet 16, to 1-of-20 shooting from 3-point range and 17-of-58 shooting from the floor.
Villanova withstood a poor shooting night and grinded out a 50-44 win over Houston on Saturday to reach its third Final Four in its past six NCAA ...
A short Shead jumper in the lane cut Villanova's lead to four with 1:25 remaining, but Villanova responded immediately with a Samuels' layup through contact. The Cougars are one of the best teams in the country at going on scoring runs to extend a lead or erase a deficit. Houston did come out with far more aggression in the second half, grabbing three offensive rebounds and scoring five second-chance points in the first four minutes. "Having veteran players is the key to that, guys that have been in that moment before." Gillespie, who had just six points and didn't play well for much of the game thanks to Jamal Shead's elite defense, drew a foul well outside the 3-point line and hit two free throws late in the first half. The biggest run Houston managed all game was a 6-0 stretch that cut Villanova's lead to two with 5:25 remaining. But early on, Villanova wouldn't let Houston win where it likes to win: on the offensive glass and in transition. Houston has built a reputation under Sampson for taking teams out of their comfort zone on the offensive end, but that's exactly what Villanova did to the Cougars in the first half. Houston badly needed a run that failed to materialize for the first 30 minutes of the game. "We're going to take a little smack in the mouth," Wright said. Through the first 17 minutes, Houston had just one offensive rebound and forced just two turnovers, neither of which were live-ball turnovers. The Cougars were forced to start their defense further out, and their jumpers weren't falling like they had in the first three games of the NCAA tournament.
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“We’re expecting a road game. Like, ‘Wow, we’re in for it, man.’ They’re going to have a great following here.” Nonetheless, these fifth-seeded Cougars play No. 2 seed Villanova (29-7) in the South Region championship game Saturday. “We’ve got a lot of older guys. Sampson recalled Shead arriving on campus two years ago when he was only 17. We’ve got a lot of experience,” fifth-year senior forward Fabian White Jr. said. We still play as hard as we do. We still play defense as much as we can. Taze Moore was a player Houston coach Kelvin Sampson didn’t even know. “Then it hit me. “We just stay solid really. The Cougars upset No. 1 seed Arizona, 72-60, on Thursday night.
Instead, we got a clinical 50-44 Villanova win in a game that honestly never seemed close. As impressive as Houston might have been beforehand, a beyond ...
Late in the second half, one of Villanova’s best players, Justin Moore, suffered what’s been called a leg injury. This game would be one of the best matchups of the Men’s NCAA tournament. From wire to wire, Saturday night felt like a coronation for Villanova. The Wildcats (-3) took on a tough Houston squad in the Elite Eight. Most expected a dogfight where Jay Wright’s crew would have to claw their way to earning every single basket, rebound and free throw.
Villanova is headed to its third Final Four since 2016, but the program could be making the trip to New Orleans without one of its star players.
Moore exited the contest with less than 40 seconds remaining after slipping and falling while extending his right leg on an attempted drive to the basket. Given the lack of depth in the Wildcats’s backcourt behind Moore and two-time Big East Player of the Year Collin Gillespie, Wright’s squad could be in for an uphill battle in the Final Four if Moore’s injury proves to be as debilitating as it appeared. Junior guard Justin Moore suffered a potentially serious lower leg injury in the closing moments of Saturday’s 50–44 win over Houston in the Elite Eight. Moments after the final whistle, a visibly distraught Moore was consoled by teammates as the celebration commenced.