INDIANAPOLIS — The University of Houston men’s basketball team spent time this week practicing an inbound play that coach Kelvin Sampson thought the Cougars might need against Purdue in the NCAA Division I tournament’s Sweet 16.
Milos Uzan, the third option, ran it to perfection Friday night.
He tossed the ball to Joseph Tugler, who sent a bounce pass right back to Uzan, and the 6-foot-4 guard soared to the rim for an uncontested layup with nine-tenths of a second on the game clock, giving the Midwest Region’s top-seeded Cougars a 62-60 victory — and a matchup with second-seeded Tennessee in Sunday’s Elite Eight.
“Great execution at a time we needed that,” said Sampson, who is a win away from making his third Final Four and his second with Houston in five years. “You never know when you’re going to need it.”
The Cougars (33-4) made just one other basket over the final eight minutes, wasted a 10-point lead and then missed two more shots in the final five seconds. A replay review with 2.2 seconds left confirmed Houston would keep the ball when it rolled out of bounds after the second miss.