MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With 17 seconds left in additional time, main by three, a visit to the Candy 16 within the steadiness, Houston senior walk-on Ryan Elvin stepped to the foul line.
Elvin had performed 60 whole minutes all season, virtually all of them in rubbish time. However head coach Kelvin Sampson was pressured to ship him to the scorer’s desk one second earlier when a fourth Cougars participant fouled out of the sport — Jamal Shead, the All-America level guard and Massive 12 Participant of the Yr. Houston put the final man on the bench in for its star participant, and all of a sudden, immediately, he was the open man on the inbound go, with a visit to the stripe and an opportunity to resolve the sport.
He missed the primary.
He made the second.
The four-point lead was sufficient for Houston to carry on for a 100-95 victory over Texas A&M on Sunday in arguably the most effective recreation of the NCAA Event’s opening weekend, highlighted by probably the most unsuspecting of heroes.
“I used to be shocked he missed one,” Shead mentioned afterward. “He works similar to we work. And if I’m being sincere, he works more durable than we work. That’s the man that we belief and is a pillar of our tradition.”
The victory superior the No. 1 seed Cougars to the Candy 16 for a fourth straight postseason, the place they are going to face No. 4 seed Duke in Dallas on Friday within the South Regional.
“I’m not gonna lie and say I wasn’t nervous. I used to be fairly nervous,” mentioned Elvin, who’s now 4 of 6 on free throws this season. “That was a testomony to the way in which our program is run. We used all people. (Largest free throw) of my life, for positive. By an extended shot.”
Elvin’s one shining second was the capper to an unbelievable recreation with a stranger-than-fiction ending. Houston was in management for a lot of the evening and in entrance for your entire second half, together with a 10-point lead with 1:24 remaining in regulation. However the No. 9 seed Aggies, a day faraway from a 98-83 first-round win over Nebraska, rallied in dramatic vogue, punctuated by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by ahead Andersson Garcia to power additional time. Garcia was simply 8 of 19 on 3-point makes an attempt this season earlier than burying what coach Buzz Williams referred to as a “shot that can go down in Texas A&M lore.”
BUZZER BEATER TO FORCE OT 🚨🚨🚨#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/mZSqICdiZR
— NCAA March Insanity (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 25, 2024
Houston outscored A&M 14-9 within the additional interval regardless of ending the sport with 4 of 5 starters fouled out, the primary time since 1987 a workforce has gained an NCAA Event recreation with that distinction.
“That’s an ideal document for Houston, to have 4 gamers foul out and nonetheless discover a method to win,” mentioned Sampson. “All these years I’ve been doing these items, I don’t know if there’s a extra satisfying win than tonight. Simply can’t inform you how proud I’m of this group. Simply actually, actually happy with this workforce.”
The foul bother required the short-handed Cougars to dip into an already skinny bench all through the sport, which appeared as if it will spell catastrophe with an extra 5 minutes on the clock.
As a substitute it was a gutsy win for a program that has grow to be outlined by its tradition of toughness below Sampson. Usually, this toughness is ascribed to Houston’s physicality and protection. That was evident on Sunday — usually just a little too evident, contemplating the 28 fouls and 45 free-throw makes an attempt for A&M. However as the sport wore on, Houston’s toughness turned a mirrored image of its resiliency.
“When that (shot) went in (to power additional time), I’m positive most individuals’s thought course of was, ‘Houston screwed up, they’re going to lose now,’” Sampson mentioned. “That will have been the mistaken assumption, as a result of our children are constructed for that.”
From the highest of the roster to the underside, it was a workforce combating for one another. And for these now not with them.
At 68 years outdated and in his tenth season at Houston, Sampson describes himself as a “perpetual tinkerer.” He goes into the workplace day-after-day to look at movie, make observe notes or go over scouting stories.
“After I go in on Sunday mornings, that’s my favourite time as a result of no person’s there,” mentioned Sampson. “Besides one particular person: Ryan Elvin.”
Elvin joined this system in the identical 2020 recruiting class as Shead, coming from in-state Cedar Ridge Excessive College out of Spherical Rock, close to Austin, the place he was a first-team, all-district participant in 6A, the biggest classification in Texas. He’s the stereotypical walk-on: the quick, scrawny child on the finish of the bench who’s a heck of a ball participant, however doesn’t have the athleticism to play at a high-major Division I degree. Sampson and his employees requested Elvin to stroll on anyway, recognizing in him the identical work ethic and tenacity that has produced 125 wins (and counting) the previous 4 seasons, greater than every other D1 program within the nation over that span.
Elvin has been with the workforce for all 125 of them, although by no means in such impactful vogue. With about two-and-a-half minutes left in additional time and the fouls piling up, Sharp, who had already fouled out, appeared down the bench at Elvin and informed him to remain prepared.
“Since you by no means know what’s going to occur,” Elvin mentioned within the locker room after the sport. “And one thing loopy occurred,”
Elvin is a fitness center rat, firing up pictures alone on Sunday morning as Sampson tinkers round. He runs additional sprints, offers teammates rides to observe, cooks dinner in his condominium and invitations the workforce over.
“Ryan is a frontrunner,” Cryer mentioned afterward. “Folks won’t see it as a result of he doesn’t get the (enjoying time), however he went on the market and confirmed that he’s an enormous a part of the workforce.”
It’s a part of the battle, on the courtroom and off, that has endeared Elvin to the workforce and its fan base. In October 2021, simply earlier than the beginning of his sophomore season, Elvin’s father, Scott, handed away after an prolonged sickness. Sampson described Scott as Ryan’s largest fan.
“That was an enormous loss to our program,” mentioned Sampson.
It wasn’t the one one. Sampson has talked in latest weeks about 4 key gamers this group has needed to substitute from final yr’s roster: Marcus Sasser, Jarace Walker, Tramon Mark and Reggie Chaney. Sasser and Walker had been first-round NBA Draft picks. Mark transferred to Arkansas. Chaney graduated after three seasons with the Cougars, then died final August from an unintended overdose.
He was a 6-foot-8, tough-as-nails bruiser — a quintessential Houston large man. Sampson used to name him his safety blanket, telling Chaney, “Some days when it’s scorching, I could not want you, but when there’s just a little little bit of a chill within the air, it’s good to know I’ve acquired that blanket there.”
The top coach has referenced Chaney in post-game press conferences, and the workforce wore a No. 32 patch on its uniform this yr, however Sampson mentioned Sunday that for the primary time all season, he introduced up Chaney within the locker room at halftime.
“He talked about Reggie, and I type of began to tear up just a little bit,” Shead mentioned. “That dude was a warrior. He performed with damaged knuckles, stress fractures in his knee, again spasms. So when (Coach) requested, ‘What would Reggie do?’ Reggie would battle. And I believe we did that within the second half.”
Jamal Shead led the way in which as ordinary for Houston — till he fouled out. (Stacy Revere / Getty Pictures)
Shead has been combating all season. The senior captain has been not solely Houston’s greatest participant, however probably the greatest within the nation, carrying a banged-up Cougars squad to a Massive 12 common season championship their first yr within the convention and one other No. 1 seed within the match. He was crucial once more on Sunday, scoring when wanted, skying for rebounds and put-back dunks, and organising teammates.
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A handful of his 10 assists went to Emanuel Sharp, the 6-foot-3 wing who had a career-high 30 factors. Sharp’s position elevated when Terrance Arceneaux tore his Achilles in December. J’Wan Roberts wears a wrap on his proper hand after getting seven stitches earlier this month and has battled a shin harm because the Massive 12 match. He gritted his manner by means of 33 minutes and was the one starter who didn’t foul out regardless of choosing up his fourth with almost eight minutes left in regulation. Houston’s frontcourt was thinned earlier this month when freshman ahead Joseph Tugler broke his foot. In mid-February, backup guard Ramon Walker Jr. tore his meniscus. Freshman heart Ced Lath, whom Sampson hoped to redshirt this season, was pressed into service amid all of the accidents.
“We had been simply cobbling it collectively,” Sampson mentioned.
Lath and Walker, who had a vital offensive put-back with 70 seconds left, had been amongst these on the ground in additional time, together with Elvin. Walker left the courtroom with tear-stained cheeks after the win, considering of Chaney.
“Having the ability to get by means of that recreation and are available out on high, it’s a testomony to how related we’re as a workforce,” he mentioned. “From Jamal to Ryan, it’s simply all people being able to play.”
Within the huddle earlier than additional time started, Sampson reminded his gamers in regards to the Feb. 24 additional time win at Baylor, when the Bears got here again from a 15-point deficit, the group in a frenzy, just for the Cougars to drag away once more within the additional session. A workforce constructed on toughness — one which has remained on the high of the rankings and standings and metrics all season, accidents and all — tapped into it but once more on Sunday, buoyed by one another and people now not with them. They get to play one other recreation due to it.
The challenges don’t cease. A Duke aspect that scored 93 factors in its second-round win over James Madison and made 14 of 28 3-point makes an attempt awaits in Dallas, the place the Coogs will not less than have the home-state crowd benefit. However one other Ultimate 4 run, like this system had in 2021, would require a pair extra collective, culture-infused efforts.
“Survive and advance” is the favored cliche this time of yr. Houston lived it on Sunday.
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(Photograph of Emanuel Sharp and Ramon Walker Jr.: Petre Thomas / USA Right now)