Michigan Nails Buzzer-Beater to Beat Houston, Go to Sweet 16 in NCAA Tournament

Freshman Jordan Poole hit a game-winning three-pointer with no time left as the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines came back to defeat the No. 6 Houston Cougars 64-63 in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in Wichita, Kansas.

Holding a 63-61 lead with 3.9 seconds remaining, Houston forward Devin Davis went to the free-throw line for two shots, but he missed both. Michigan rebounded the ball and called timeout, leading to the final play:

Mike Hall of the Big Ten Network summed up the moment (and the entire tournament to this point) rather well:

It was a remarkable moment for Poole, who had made just three of 14 field goals in his last four games prior to the Houston matchup. The 6'4" guard played 11 minutes on the night and scored eight points.

In a postgame interview, Michigan head coach John Beilein said Poole has "an overdose of swag." That confidence undoubtedly helped Poole on his deep attempt, which sent the Wolverines to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year. Four Wolverines scored in double digits, led by 12 from Moritz Wagner and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Houston Cougars, who finished their season with a 27-8 record. While Davis missed two free throws at the end, UH would not have gotten to that point without his strong performance, as the senior posted 17 points and seven rebounds. Rob Gray led the Cougars with 23 points and 10 boards.

Chris Herring of ESPN/FiveThirtyEight even argued that Houston was the better team on this night:

Neither school led by more than six points throughout the game, and the lead changed hands five times in the last four minutes. As Seth Davis of CBS Sports noted, the game featured a back-and-forth theme for its entirety:

A three-point play from Davis gave UH a 60-59 lead with 2:07 left, but Wagner hit a layup to steal the lead back for Michigan with 1:41 remaining.

Davis hit three free throws down the stretch, leading to a game-tying layup attempt from Abdur-Rahkman with 10 seconds left. That shot rimmed out, Houston was fouled, and the rest is history.

Michigan advances to the Sweet 16 and will play the winner of No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 7 Texas A&M on Thursday, March 22, in Los Angeles, California.

Get the best sports content from the web and social in the new B/R app. Get the app and get the game.