Villanova Wildcats survive cold shooting, top Houston Cougars to make Final Four of NCAA tournament

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Villanova is headed to its third Final Four in the past six NCAA tournaments, with a chance to win its third national championship over that same stretch.

In a grind-it-out affair at the AT&T Center on Saturday night, 2-seed Villanova got out to an early lead over the 5-seed Houston Cougars, never trailed and pulled away in the final minutes for a 50-44 win.

Villanova shot just 28.8% (15-for-52) from the field, making it the first team to win an Elite Eight game while shooting under 30% from the floor since UCLA in 1971 (29%), according to ESPN Stats & Information research. The Wildcats' 50 points were also tied for the fewest ever in an Elite Eight win.

Jermaine Samuels led the way for the Wildcats with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Caleb Daniels came off the bench to score 12 points. Taze Moore was the top scorer for Houston, going for 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Houston had landed the first punch against every team it had played in the NCAA tournament until this point. The Cougars were up 31-14 on UAB after 10 minutes, 16-9 on Illinois and 19-12 against Arizona.

Wildcats head coach Jay Wright expected more of the same when asked on Friday afternoon how he planned to prepare his team for Houston's intensity and physicality from the opening tip.

«We're going to take a little smack in the mouth,» Wright said. «We'll have to get a feel for it and then adjust as soon as we can.»

There was no adjustment needed.

The Wildcats landed the opening salvo, scoring the first five points and leading 16-8 after 10 minutes. They never trailed.

Houston has built a reputation under Kelvin Sampson for taking teams out of their comfort zone on the offensive end, but that's exactly what Villanova did to the Cougars in