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 injury in the team’s win over Northern Kentucky in the first round and, per the CBS broadcast, dealt with back issues during Friday’s loss to Miami.
Sampson said basketball had been therapeutic for him after his twin sister, Karen, died while he was coaching in the AAC tournament.
“I didn’t want to make this about me,” Sampson said this week when asked about the impact of his sister’s death on his ability to lead his team.
Sampson had a squad that had the makings of a national champion. Entering Friday’s game, Houston had lost just one game since Jan. 22. The return of Sasser (14 points) and Tramon Mark (12 points), who both missed the bulk of last season due to injury, and the arrival of Jarace Walker, a projected first-round pick in this summer’s NBA draft, helped the Cougars reload after losing four seniors from last year’s squad that lost to Villanova in the Elite Eight.
But the Hurricanes had talent in their lineup, too. Isaiah Wong (17 points, six rebounds, three assists), who created matchup problems for Houston on Friday with his bounce, versatility and elusiveness, was named ACC player of the year. Pack was scrutinized last summer when he left Kansas State for Miami and reportedly secured an $800,000 NIL deal attached to the move.
The Hurricanes have now reached the Elite Eight for the second year in a row. And this year’s team achieved the feat just hours after Miami’s women’s team upset Villanova to reach the Elite Eight for the first time in that program’s history, so Miami might be a basketball school now.
But Houston will go home after losing its shot to play for a national championship just a 17-minute drive from its campus.
As Sampson noted this week, it’s hard to win games at this stage.