Houston ramps up 'D' to beat Arizona for Big 12 tourney title - ESPN

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Houston had crowded onto the podium inside T-Mobile Center on Saturday night, and the second-ranked Cougars were beginning to celebrate their Big 12 tournament title, when Emanuel Sharp was handed a championship belt as the tourney MVP.

He raised it high above his head — upside down.

It was just about the only obvious misstep that anyone from Houston made all week.

Milos Uzan poured in 25 points against Arizona in the finale, Sharp added 17 in another brilliant effort, 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 to avenge a loss to Iowa State in last year's title game.

«We did a great job of staying together,» said Sharp, who was joined by Uzan and Big 12 player of the year L.J. Cryer on the all-tournament team. «That's what coach has been preaching. And that's why I love this team.»

Houston romped to the regular-season Big 12 title, winning 19 of 20 games in the expanded league. And it was just as dominant in three games in Kansas City, easily beating Colorado and No. 17 BYU before turning back red-hot Arizona for the trophy.

Houston almost certainly locked up a No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday and will probably begin its NCAA tournament in Wichita, Kansas.

«We never panic,» Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. «A lot of people around us do, but thank god they're not coaches and players. We've been in these bunkers. We've been there when it's tough. We've learned to internalize and almost get independent of everything around us. We get in a