Playing a virtual road game in the American Athletic Conference Championship semifinals, Houston now finds itself right at home in Sunday's final
by Dick Weiss
MEMPHIS - March Madness finally arrived at the American Athletic Conference Championship.
Better late than never.
Top-seeded Houston (31-2) defeated fourth-seeded Memphis, 61-58, to advance to the championship game for a second straight year here Saturday at FedExForum. But the Cougars added some unnecessary drama, allowing a 14- point lead to almost disappear when they went the final 9:54 of the game without a field goal and missed five of six free throws in the final 4:40 that could have made life easier.
The 10th-ranked Cougars, who rank second in the country in field goal defense, played a masterful game on that side of the ball, limiting high-scoring Memphis to just 23.5-percent shooting and 4-for-23 from three-point range. Memphis went scoreless over a stretch of 7:34 in the first half and senior guard Jeremiah Martin, who averaged 30 points during February, scored 23 points but shot 5-for-24 against Houston’s physical perimeter defense.
And still the Tigers showed enough competitive spirit to give themselves a chance.
Memphis, which pulled within three when Martin drained a three with 1:10 to play, had two chances to force overtime. Martin missed a three with 20 seconds to play. And then freshman guard Tyler Harris missed another after a well-conceived inbounds play with six seconds left before the buzzer went off.
“It was a tough game for us,” Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said. “We understood what they were going to do. They come out and they play hard for 40 minutes. We fought hard and we had a chance to extend the game. But every time we make that many mistakes in a game plan, we come out on the losing side.”
The close call was enough to make Houston coach Kelvin Sampson ponder playing Memphis in what was essentially a road game with enthusiastic Memphis fans coming out to support Hardaway, the local star turned first-year head coach, and his team.
“Usually, when you get to the conference tournament, you don’t play a road game. That’s unique,” Sampson said. “If you look at the SEC, the SEC is in Nashville. The ACC is in Charlotte. The Pac-12 is in Vegas. The Big East is at Madison Square Garden. The Big Ten is in either Chicago or Indianapolis. Their crowd was a factor tonight.
“But like we’ve done for most of the year, we had some games we had no business winning. We’re not some juggernaut. We never said we were. We could have easily lost to Saint Louis, we were down 15 to LSU and came back to win. Had those games been on a neutral court, we probably would have lost them, but we were at home. When you are at home, somethings your fans are a huge advantage.”
As things stand, Houston, which blasted UConn, 84-45, in the quarterfinals, was happy to survive and advance against a Memphis team that was playing on adrenalin during its third game in three days.
“Are you a golf fan?” Sampson asked one writer. “When a guy shoots 61 and 60, what does he shoot the next day? 72, 69, 73. They’re human beings.
“Basketball is a hard game. It wasn’t as easy as we made it made it look yesterday (against UConn). We’re not nearly as good as we played yesterday. Connecticut is not nearly as bad. Sometimes these kids think they’re all that. And the good Lord will say, ‘I’m going to humble you.’”
Houston senior guard Corey Davis Jr., arguably the most complete player in The American, was one of the few players who was unaffected by his surroundings, leading the Cougars with 17 points and three 3-pointers.
Houston has been projected as a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, with a chance of earning a No. 2 if the Cougars win the tournament and the selection committee looks at those 32 wins. Memphis will likely wind up in the NIT, but the Tigers are ahead of schedule in Hardaway’s plan to eventually make them a national player again.
“Overall,” Hardaway said. “I think it was a successful season because we saw us go from being an average team to a really good team.”