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Houston's Milos Uzan (7) heads to the basket as Purdue's Braden Smith (3) and Trey Kaufman-Renn (4) defend during the first half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament Friday, March 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
For 20 minutes Friday night, Houston looked at risk of another disappointing Sweet 16 exit.
But the Cougars found their stroke to start the second half and held on for a thrilling 62-60 win over Purdue thanks to a perfectly executed inbounds play that resulted in Milos Uzan's game-winning layup with 0.9 seconds remaining.
Houston had the ball on the baseline under its own basket with 2.8 seconds remaining. Uzan was the inbounds man and found forward Joseph Tugler in the lane on the inbounds pass. Uzan then stepped in bounds under the basket, and Tugler gave the ball right back to him on a bounce pass.
There wasn't a Purdue defender in sight, and Uzan dropped in the game-winning layup before help defense could arrive.
Uzan's game-winner capped a heroic effort for the junior transfer, who led Houston's offense the entire game.
Uzan kept a cold first-half shooting effort (30%) afloat with 12 of Houston's 29 first-half points. He finished with a career-high six 3-pointers and got some help from his teammates in the second half as Houston rallied from a 31-29 halftime deficit.
With the win, Houston breaks a two-year streak of losing in the Sweet 16 as a No. 1 seed. In 2023, No. 5 seed Miami upended Houston in the Sweet 16 en route to the Final Four. Last year, No. 4 seed Duke ground out a 54-51 win over Houston in a game in which Cougars All-American Jamal Shead was injured.
But there's no letdown in 2025. The Cougars advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2021 and will face a showdown on Sunday in the Midwest regional final against Tennessee in a game that will feature two of the best defenses in the nation.
Uzan, in his first season since transferring from Oklahoma, was the hero in more ways than one. As All-Big 12 guard LJ Cryer went scoreless in the first half Uzan shot 4 of 6 from 3 before halftime. The Cougars then started the second half on an 8-1 run and before taking the first double-digit lead of the game at 56-46 on another Uzan 3.
MILOS UZAN IS SCORCHING HOT#MarchMadnesspic.twitter.com/g368pGDEnk
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2025
Playing in a virtual home game in Indianapolis, 65 miles away from its West Lafayette campus, Purdue rallied to cut Houston's lead to 57-55 inside four minutes. But Cryer, who started the game shooting 1 of 11 from the field, came up clutch to regain momentum for the Cougars.
He pulled up for a 3-pointer on an assist from Uzan that connected to extend Houston's lead to 60-55 with 3:34 remaining.
But Purdue wasn't done. The Boilermakers rallied to tie the game at 60-60 on a Camden Heide 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining, setting up Houston for a last look at the basket on a set play with 35 seconds remaining in regulation.
Uzan's missed the mark with a floater as the clock ticked down, but the Cougars retained possession with a team rebound on an out-of-bounds play with 2.8 seconds remaining to set up Uzan for the game-winning bucket.
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