No. 3 Houston's Balanced Attack Leads to Win vs. No. 11 OSU; Advances to Sweet 16

For the first time since the end of Phi Slama Jama in 1983-84, the Houston Cougars are in the Sweet 16 following their 74-59 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament on Sunday.

Houston has shown steady progress under head coach Kelvin Sampson. The program made the tournament last season for the first time since 2009-10, losing in the second round to Michigan. This year has been even better, with Sunday's victory giving the Cougars a single-season record 33 wins.

Houston won on the strength of a balanced offensive attack that included four players scoring in double figures. Corey Davis Jr. led the way with 21 points. Galen Robinson Jr. wasn't far behind with 13 points, along with six steals.

In his final game at Ohio State, senior C.J. Jackson went out on a high note with 18 points after being held to two against Iowa State in the first round.

Houston's success started early thanks to its lights-out shooting against the Buckeyes defense. The AAC regular-season champions shot 55.2 percent in the first half to take a 39-31 lead into the intermission.

Corey Davis from DEEP

Davis is having an excellent redemption tour after scoring just 12 points in two tournament games last year. The senior star followed up his 26-point effort against Georgia State on Friday with another strong scoring output.

Another Houston player who showed up after a lackluster offensive performance against Georgia State was Robinson. He cracked double digits in scoring for the first time in the past four games.

Brison Gresham supplied plenty of highlights on his own with two spectacular dunks that helped Houston fight off Ohio State's attempts to rally.

Brison Gresham flies in for the alley-oop slam

Despite some individual success stories for the Cougars, they struggled for a while to put Ohio State away. Sampson's intensity eventually got the best of him when the Buckeyes closed the gap to 49-44 with under 12 minutes remaining.

A superstitious person could argue Sampson removing his tie turned out to be the difference in the game. Ohio State was held without a field goal for the next eight minutes, allowing Houston to extend its lead back to double digits.

Another, more logical explanation for why the Buckeyes came up short is Houston's defense did an outstanding job shutting down Kaleb Wesson. After the sophomore put up 21 points against Iowa State, he managed 15 points but only had seven field-goal attempts.

The Buckeyes season comes to an abrupt end after such a promising start. Head coach Chris Holtmann has a terrific foundation to build around, especially if Kaleb and Andre Wesson return. The loss of senior Jackson will leave a significant hole on the offense to fill as they chase a Big Ten title.

Houston is playing its best basketball at the right time heading into a showdown against a talented Kentucky team. Sampson will have his squad prepared for the task, and if they execute like they did Sunday, an Elite Eight appearance will likely be in the cards.

What's Next?

Houston will take on Kentucky in the Sweet 16 on Friday.