KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The University of Houston men’s basketball team had crowded onto the podium inside T-Mobile Center on Saturday night, and the second-ranked, top-seeded Cougars were beginning to celebrate their Big 12 title when Emanuel Sharp was handed a championship belt as the conference tournament’s MVP.
He raised it high above his head — upside down.
It was just about the only obvious misstep that anyone from his program made all week.
Milos Uzan poured in 25 points against third-seeded Arizona in the championship game, Sharp added 17 in another brilliant performance, and the Cougars turned up their trademark defense in the final minute to hold on for a 72-64 victory over the Big 12 newcomer.
Playing without injured big man J’Wan Roberts, the Cougars (30-4) took a 64-62 lead on Uzan’s 3-pointer with five minutes to go, then suffocated the Wildcats (22-12) down the stretch. Houston lost to Iowa State in the tournament final last season, the Cougars’ first in the Big 12 after a decade in the American Athletic Conference.