Houston Cougars guard Milos Uzan (7) dribbles the ball during the second half of an NCAA men’s college basketball game, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025 in Houston, Texas. | Oscar Herrera/The Cougar
No. 4 Houston basketball clinched a share of the Big 12 conference regular season title for the second straight year with a vengeful 69-61 victory over No. 10 Texas Tech in Lubbock on Monday night
The Cougars improved to 24-4 and a remarkable 16-1 conference record, extending their conference road winning streak to 13 games.
Junior guard Milos Uzan scored a career-best 22 points and made three 3-pointers in his 11th straight outing making a shot from beyond the arc.
“This team has so much belief in me, and I feel like I can knock down any shot during the game,” Uzan said.
Graduate forward J’Wan Roberts also added 16 points with a career high 10 made free throws.
After being down as much as 10 with just under four minutes remaining, Texas Tech went on a late 8-2 run and cut the lead down to just three at 62-59 with 1:12 remaining.
Houston called a timeout, but Uzan once again delivered in the clutch, draining a crucial 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired to give the Cougars a 65-59 lead with 45 seconds left.
”Milos controlled the game,” Roberts said. “He let everyone know that we can win in this environment.”
UH shot 50% from beyond the arc (6/12) and made 19 out of their 23 free throws (83%) to get it done in a hostile road environment.
Tech just made six out of their 30 3-point attempts and certainly missed senior guard Chance McMillian and junior forward Darrion Williams in that category, who were sidelined.
“That crowd and that old Red Raider quarterback (Patrick Mahomes) that showed up had to be worth at least 10 points,” coach Kelvin Sampson said.
Halfway through the second half, UH took their largest lead of the game at that point, 50-44 after a layup from graduate guard Mylik Wilson, forcing a Texas Tech timeout.
The Cougars continued to grow the lead and it reached up to a game-high 10 points after a made free throw from Roberts.
The sixth year leader had a couple of crucial layups late and made his presence felt to reach a comfortable advantage.
Sophomore forward Joseph Tugler started the scoring for Houston with the first four points.
The Cougars got out to a 6-2 lead before Texas Tech tied it. This matchup was expected to be tight and it went back and forth throughout the first half.
After being down 19-16, Houston went on a 7-0 run and took a 23-19 lead after a tough layup made by Uzan plus the foul.
Redshirt junior guard Emanuel Sharp hit huge back-to-back threes before Houston took a five-point lead. Eventually, the halftime score was 33-30 in favor of the Cougars.
Uzan was the leading scorer with 12 points and UH made 4/7 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Texas Tech was just 20% from three (3/15) and 33% overall from the field.
The Red Raiders tied it immediately after the break, but UH took back the lead and grew it back up to five on a second-chance triple from Uzan. Tugler had a thunderous dunk four minutes in as the Cougars maintained their advantage.
Up next, UH looks to outright win its second straight Big 12 title at home against Cincinnati Saturday, March 1, at 3:30 p.m.
