KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Emanuel Sharpe led with 19 points before being sidelined due to fouling out, as second-ranked Houston pushed past an injury to seasoned forward J’Wan Roberts in the second half to secure a 77-68 victory over Colorado on Thursday. This win propels them to the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Joining Sharpe on the scoresheet were LJ Cryer and Milos Uzan, each contributing 14 points for the top-seeded Cougars, who now boast a record of 28-4. They are set to face No. 17 BYU, the tournament’s fourth seed, on Friday night with hopes of reaching their second straight championship game.
Houston’s last postseason was cut short due to injuries, causing concern when Roberts went down with about 18 minutes remaining. The Cougars’ top rebounder had to be assisted to the locker room, where he was diagnosed with a right ankle sprain. Roberts then spent the remainder of the game on the bench.
For Colorado, Andrej Jakimovski stood out with 25 points. As the first No. 16 seed to make it this far in the Big 12 tourney, the Buffaloes—now 14-20—ended a demanding season positively. Unfortunately, top scorer Julian Hammond III was limited to nine points while shooting 2-for-13.
Following last year’s Big 12 title game loss to Iowa State, the Cougars have been on an impressive 11-game winning streak that includes a previous victory over Colorado at the beginning of February. They have not tasted defeat since an overtime loss to Texas Tech on February 1.
In the first half of the matchup, Colorado also lost forward Sebastian Rancik to injury. Facing a shortage of players from the bench, the Buffaloes struggled with exhaustion during their third game in three days, allowing Houston to dominate the second half.
This is Houston’s seventh consecutive advance to the conference tournament semifinal. They claimed the American title in 2021 and 2022.
A pivotal moment in the game was when Colorado managed to cut Houston’s lead to 66-58 with just over five minutes remaining. However, Uzan’s pair of three-pointers provided the Cougars with a substantial cushion that Colorado couldn’t overcome.
Statistically speaking, Houston was behind for a mere 29 seconds during the game.
Looking ahead, the Cougars are set to take on BYU in the semifinals, having won their regular-season clash 86-55 back in early January.
