INDIANAPOLIS — In a battle of two of college basketball’s best defenses, Houston put together one of the most impressive defensive performances in NCAA Tournament history in a 69-50 win over Tennessee to send Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson to the third Final Four of his career (2021 at Houston, 2002 at Oklahoma).
Houston’s one worry coming into the Elite Eight was that the Vols were not a high ball screen-usage team and didn’t post up often, which took away its two schematic disrupters: its two-on-the-ball scheme in pick-and-rolls and its “Monster” post-up double teams.
The theme was “Chest and heart, not scheme.” The Cougars, turns out, have plenty.
Houston locks down Tennessee to secure coach Kelvin Sampson’s third career Final Four trip
