COOGS WIN AGAIN!
Houston cruises past BYU to secure victory in Big 12 semifinals
Mar 15, 2025, 2:07 pm
Houston wins again! Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images.
Emanuel Sharpe scored 26 points, LJ Cryer had 20 and second-ranked Houston stifled No. 17 BYU in a 74-54 victory Friday night that moved the Cougars into the Big 12 Tournament championship game for the second consecutive season.
Milos Uzan added 14 points and Mylik Wilson pulled down 13 rebounds, helping the tournament's top seed jump to a big early lead and roll into Saturday night's matchup with Arizona on a 12-game win streak.
Houston (29-4) played without J'Wan Roberts, its leading rebounder, after he sprained his ankle early in the second half of the Cougars' quarterfinal win over Colorado. Roberts watched from the bench with his right foot in a walking boot.
He got to watch quite a defensive show by one of the nation's best.
Houston forced BYU to miss its first nine shots, including seven from beyond the arc, where coach Kevin Young's team had set a Big 12 Tournament record with 18 made 3s on its way to 96 points in a quarterfinal win over Iowa State. That nearly seven-minute lull allowed Houston to roar to a 15-0 lead that it spent the rest of the game protecting.
BYU trimmed its 40-21 halftime deficit to 13 midway through the second half but never threatened to come all the way back.
Keba Keita had 14 points and 12 rebounds for BYU. Dawson Baker scored 11 points and Richie Saunders had 10.
Takeaways
BYU still has not won a conference tournament title since 2001 in the Mountain West.
Houston lived up to its billing as the nation's No. 1 team in defensive efficiency.
Key moment
Sharpe converted a four-point play with 13:40 left in the first half to give Houston its 15-0 lead.
Key stat
Houston has beaten BYU by an average of 25.5 points in their two games this season.
Up next
Houston will play the Wildcats for the Big 12 title.
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Christian Walker homered in a three-run second, Ryan Gusto pitched well into the sixth and the Houston Astros beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on Wednesday night to sweep the three-game series.
CHRISTIAN SKYWALKER. #BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/EZxbda3HT3
— Houston Astros (@astros) April 24, 2025
Walker led off the second with a home run to left off Bowden Francis (2-3), Yainer Diaz tripled and scored on Zach Dezenzo's RBI single and Yordan Alvarez capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly.
Gusto (3-1) allowed one run on three hits with six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. Gusto has allowed three runs or fewer in each of his three starts this season.
Bryan King pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, and Bryan Abreu threw a scoreless eighth.
George Springer walked, and Ernie Clement doubled with one out in the ninth, but Josh Hader struck out Alejandro Kirk and induced a flyout by Myles Straw for his seventh save.
Houston has won five of its last six.
Springer hit an RBI double in the fourth for the Blue Jays. They have lost five straight games.
Francis surrendered three runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. He has allowed three runs or fewer in four of his five starts.
Key moment
Hader striking out Kirk and getting Straw to flyout to center to end it.
Key stat
The Astros swept the Blue Jays for the first time since they swept a four-game series in Houston on May 14-17, 2015.
Final Thoughts
Julia Morales caught up with Walker after the game.
#Astros beat the Blue Jays 3-1
Christian Walker 2-4, HR & spoke with @JuliaMorales after the @astros WIN#BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/MyRYdVwidH
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) April 24, 2025
Up next
Houston starts a three-game series Friday at Kansas City, with RHP Hayden Wesneski (1-1, 3.91 ERA) starting the opener. Toronto RHP José Berríos (1-1, 5.02) starts Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at the Yankees.
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