Back from the Dead: Houston shocks Kansas in the Final Minute(s)

Allen Fieldhouse erupted as freshman big man Flory Bidunga threw down a monstrous dunk with 1:31 remaining in regulation. The Jayhawks had jumped to a 66-60 lead, and the game was all but over. However, the Houston Cougars had a 16-game regular-season winning streak in the Big 12, and they weren’t gonna quit.

Cougars point guard Milos Uzan would get a bucket after a timeout, and they would quickly claw back. Houston’s big man, Jojo Tugler, would use his 7’6 wingspan on the inbounder, forcing back-to-back turnovers en route to two Houston buckets. In the blink of an eye, we had overtime in Lawrence.

Up to this point, the game had been neck and neck as expected. While both teams found near identical success in the paint and from the three-point line, they shared struggles from the free-throw line.

Flory Bidunga and reserve Rylan Griffen starred for the Jayhawks, both arguably having their best performances of the season thus far. Meanwhile, Houston shared the same recipe, finding success through their big J’Wann Roberts and guard Mylik Wilson off the bench.

40 minutes of back-and-forth basketball would now come down to the extra period, and just 5 more minutes of play.

The overtime period would prove to be a duel of familiar faces. Buckets from Bidunga and Griffen would push Kansas ahead, while J’Wann Roberts would keep Houston afloat. Nevertheless, Houston would find itself in a similar scenario. 

Kansas held a 6-point lead, this time with merely 18 seconds remaining and two chances at the free-throw line to put the final nails in the coffin. Houston had battled and battled, but it didn’t appear to be enough. The streak that had spanned two seasons was about to break, right? Not quite.

DaJuan Harris would miss both opportunities at the charity stripe, and the Cougars again had life. Milos Uzan would again bolt up the floor, floating over the boundary line under the hoop as he dished the ball to guard Emmanuel Sharp. With a hand in his face, Sharp would miraculously cut the lead in half with a deep three. 7.5 seconds remained.

A familiar foe now appeared for Kansas: the inbounds pass. Houston would again call on Tugler’s wingspan as the intimidation factor against Kansas inbounder Zeke Mayo. Mayo would scramble along the baseline, looking like a quarterback rolling out of the pocket. The count was creeping towards 5, and he was running out of options. 

Mayo panicked and floated the ball towards Kansas’s tallest player, Hunter Dickinson. Uzan would deflect the pass, and it would fall right into the hands of the aforementioned standout Mylik Wilson. Wilson had been scoreless in overtime, but it didn’t cool him down. He let it fly almost immediately, splashing a three and tying the game with 4 seconds left.

Lightning had struck twice for Houston, and we needed another period of basketball.

The second overtime period began, and immediately, Houston didn’t want to leave any doubt. After nearly tasting defeat twice down the stretch, the Cougars would take the first lead and never relinquish it. Two Emmanuel Sharp free throws would give Houston an 8-point lead with 24 seconds remaining, and Kelvin Sampson’s squad could finally taste victory.

At last, the final buzzer had sounded, and you could hear a pin drop in Allen Fieldhouse. 

The energy had been sucked out of the building after what was an instant classic of a game. As Kansas collapsed in crunch time of back-to-back periods, Houston’s streak stayed alive, in what may have been its most heroic effort yet.

The game moves the Cougars to 16-3 overall and 8-0 in the Big 12. Houston will continue its road trip next Wednesday as they’ll head to Morgantown to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers.

On the flipside, the loss drops Kansas to 14-5 and 5-3 in the Big 12. The Jayhawks will look to get back in the win column next Tuesday as they’ll defend homecourt against the UCF Knights.

Overall, this episode of the biannual series between Houston and Kansas is firmly in the running for the game of the year in college basketball. That said, the rematch set for early March ought to garner loads of national attention as Kansas travels to Houston.