Miami advances to Elite Eight, ends Houston's dream season

KANSAS CITY, MO. — Whenever someone would ask Kelvin Sampson about the dream scenario of Houston, a top seed in the NCAA tournament, playing in the Final Four just 10 miles from campus at NRG Arena, he would not engage the idea and instead tell the story about the first time he suffered an upset in the NCAA tournament.

During the 1994 NCAA tournament, Kelvin Sampson's Washington State squad was an 8-seed that lost to 9-seed Boston College, which then made a run to the Elite Eight.

"«If we play good [Friday], we've got a chance to win,» Sampson said on Thursday. «If we don't, we'll go home, and that's just the way it is. Hasn't changed since this tournament started. That's why you don't ever prepare for next week. You prepare for it logistically, but these games are hard to win, man.»

On Friday, Houston's dream — the team has worn «For the City» warm-up shirts throughout the postseason — of playing for a national title at home came to an end in an 89-75 loss to a Miami squad that had more doubters than believers prior to a game against a 7.5-point favorite.

But the Hurricanes overwhelmed Houston with their speed, constricting defense, explosiveness and 3-point shooting at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. Miami made 11 of its first 22 shots from beyond the arc against Houston while Kansas State transfer Nijel Pack led all scorers with 26 points.

With 9:45 to play in the game, a Houston team ranked fourth in adjusted defensive efficiency on KenPom was down 70-53 against the ACC's co-champion, which shared the regular season title with Virginia.

It was the end of a turbulent stretch for Houston. In the AAC tournament, Marcus Sasser suffered a groin injury that affected him for multiple games. Jamal Shead suffered a knee