The Cooks, ranked 5th, advanced to the 16th round with the third match in a row. Won 68-53 Fifth Level Illinois in Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon. Houston, who eventually lost to national champion Baylor in last year’s national semifinals, advanced to meet the winner of Sunday’s game.
“I think they’re standing on the shoulders of all the players who came before them,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, who advanced to round 16 for the sixth time in his career, said in a television interview. “They believe in our culture. We are talking about watering the trees. We do not water the leaves; We are the roots of water, and the roots of this project are our culture, and each of these children buys it. That is why we have succeeded.
Houston (31-5), the champion of the American Athletics Conference, did not even win a single digit seed in the tournament after the 1984 final four, when Hakeem Olajouvon and Clyde Trexler were the stars of the Cooks. Illinois (23-10) lost in the second round from first place for the second year in a row. In 2021, it was mourned by Loyola Chicago as the No. 1 seed.
Three of the final four teams last year advanced to the round of 16, with Gonzalez and UCLA winning on Saturday. Baylor lost to North Carolina on Saturday, meaning the reigning champion has now lost 16 rounds five years ago.
Sampson lost all five of his starting players last year, either moving or injured. Quentin Grimes, a key player on the team last year, now plays for the Knicks. Junior guard Marcus Saucer, who scored 20 points in the national semifinals last year, came out with a season-end injury, just as second-year guard Dramon Mark did.
However, Houston has maintained its trademark defensive intensity, and it looks like it has seven defenders on the ground instead of five. Cookers limited Illinois to 34 percent shooting off the field. Houston took an 11-0 lead, advancing 65-49, not reaching the game.
In action, senior defender Das Moore was unbeaten in the open, finishing with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Kyler Edwards, a member of the Jamal Sheet 18 and Texas Tech 2019 final four team, received 15 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
“Friend of animals everywhere. Devoted analyst. Total alcohol scholar. Infuriatingly humble food trailblazer.”