Kelvin Sampson rejoices with the crowd after UH’s thrilling overtime win over Texas A&M in the Round of 32. | Anh Le/The Cougar
With two starters having fouled out of the game, the remaining three just one whistle away from sharing the same fate and no time left on the clock, the Houston Cougars had just taken the gut punch to end all gut punches.
The nine-seed Texas A&M Aggies had just capped off a 13-point comeback in the final two minutes with an improbable buzzer-beating three-pointer from big-man Andersson Garcia to send the game to overtime. The Aggies in the building rejoiced while the Cougars stood stunned, knowing what was up against them in the next five minutes.
L.J. Cryer and Ja’Vier Francis: fouled out. Emanuel Sharp: four fouls. Jamal Shead: four fouls and hadn’t come out of the game at all. J’Wan Roberts: four fouls, and was playing on one leg after aggravating a shin contusion in the first half. Aside from Damian Dunn and Mylik Wilson, UH’s bench included Ramon Walker, who had just come back from a meniscus tear and had played a grand total of three minutes thus far, Cedric Lath, who didn’t start playing basketball until 15 years old and had been a garbage-time player until March and Ryan Elvin, the fan-favorite senior walk-on who almost exclusively played during blowouts.
Five minutes. That’s what UH had left at its disposal to keep the season going.
Head coach Kelvin Sampson immediately thought of his team’s game at Baylor exactly a month prior. The Cougars relinquished a 15-point lead to allow the Bears to send it into overtime, but UH held strong in the extra period for a massive road win.
“We had something to draw from,” Sampson said after the game. “And our kids are tough, man. We’ve got tough kids, and in that moment we needed belief and we needed toughness.”
In the locker room after that Baylor game, Chandra Chaney, the mother of late former Cougar Reggie Chaney, whose death in August rocked the entire program to its core and is still deeply felt eight months later, spoke to the team. It was a fitting way to cap a win that had come through immense toughness — Chaney’s calling card on the floor.
Now, a month to the day of that Baylor win, Chaney’s memory came to the forefront again. At halftime, Sampson, upset with his team’s toughness on the glass in what was an incredibly physical game, asked his players a simple question: What would Reggie do?
“I hadn’t mentioned Reggie other than when we watched him on film,” Sampson said. “But I brought Reggie up at halftime, and said ‘What would Reggie do, J’Wan? What would Reggie do, Ja’Vier?’ Because I didn’t think they played very good the first half.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Sampson saw Jamal Shead and Ramon Walker begin to get emotional, still deeply hurt from the loss of such a close friend — one whose number, 32, is patched on all the player’s jerseys.
That number, and Sampson’s solemn reminder, was more than enough to galvanize the Cougars. As they took back to the court, they did so not with the timid footsteps of a team on the backfoot, but the poised strides of a brotherhood who would not forget the memory of their beloved teammate.
The Aggies in the building rejoiced while the Cougars stood stunned, knowing what was up against them in the next five minutes. | Anh Le/The Cougar
Five minutes. Five minutes to get back on the scoreboard. Five minutes to seal the team’s future.
“He mentioned Reggie, and I kind of didn’t really listen to the rest of the speech. I kind of just started to tear up a little bit,” Shead said. “That dude was a warrior. He played with broken knuckles, stress fractures in his knee, back spasms. So when he asked, what would Reggie do? Reggie would fight. And I think we did that the second half.”
Emanuel Sharp, who finished with a career-high 30 points, hit a massive three-pointer to begin overtime and put UH on top 89-86.
Four-and-a-half minutes to go.
Not even a minute later, Sharp was called for his fifth foul, forcing Ramon Walker to come in having not played all second half. The Cougars clung to an 89-87 lead with 3:41 to go. Shead found Mylik Wilson under the basket to extend the lead to two possessions.
Two-and-a-half minutes to go.
After an Aggie layup brought the score 93-90, Damian Dunn missed a tough layup, but in came the Energizer Bunny Ramon Walker. Fresh off his month-long knee injury, Walker grabbed the missed shot and put up a massive touch shot off the glass.
Walker grabbed the missed shot and put up a massive touch shot off the glass. | Anh Le/The Cougar
Seventy seconds to go.
Texas A&M responded again in the final minute, bringing it within two points and needing one stop. Shead, the team’s unquestioned leader and best player, who hadn’t rested for a second in this game, nailed yet another clutch shot in a season of clutch shots to put the Cougars up 97-93.
Thirty seconds to go.
Nine seconds later, Shead was hit with his fifth foul, leaving the hobbled J’Wan Roberts as the only starter standing for UH. In Shead’s place came Ryan Elvin, the walk-on, a sign of last resort.
Eighteen seconds to go.
A&M hit two free throws to once again bring it within three. On the inbounds, the ball found none other than Elvin, who was fouled immediately.
The walk-on stepped up to the line for the biggest free throws of his life, in a game no one ever thought he would end up playing in, and took his shot. The first one long. Just off the back of the rim.
The walk-on stepped up to the line for the biggest free throws of his life, in a game no one ever thought he would end up playing in, and took his shot. | Anh Le/The Cougar
The second was pure, and it sealed the win for the Cougars. The five minutes had officially passed.
“Honestly I’m shocked that he missed one,” Shead said. “That’s the guy that we trust and is a pillar of our culture.”
Players, coaches, support staff, managers and family members all embraced in joy and relief. Some cried, some laughed, some were just happy. The Cougars stayed together for five more minutes and will get to do so for at least 40 more.
Sampson walked over to the UH fans and let out a tornado of fist pumps and emotion, before letting a hardy “Woo!” as he walked into the tunnel. Shead pointed to that black and red No. 32 patch on his jersey, and said “That was for the guy!”
“Our kids didn’t play together, they played for each other,” Sampson said after the game. “All these years I’ve been doing this stuff, I don’t know if there’s a more satisfying win than tonight. I just can’t tell you how proud I am of this group.”
