No. 2 Houston overcomes J'Wan Roberts' ankle injury to beat Colorado
Mar 13, 2025, 5:05 pm
Houston beat Colorado, 77-68. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.
Emanuel Sharpe scored 19 points before fouling out, and No. 2 Houston overcame an injury to veteran forward J'Wan Roberts in the second half to beat Colorado 77-68 on Thursday and advance to the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
LJ Cryer and Milos Uzan added 14 points apiece for the top-seeded Cougars (28-4), who will play No. 17 BYU — the No. 4 seed in the tournament — on Friday night for a spot in their second consecutive championship game.
Houston's postseason run a year ago was derailed by injuries, so it made sense that the bench tensed up when Roberts went down right in front of it with about 18 minutes to go. The Cougars' leading rebounder was helped to the locker room, where he was diagnosed with a right ankle sprain, and Roberts spent the rest of the game watching from the bench.
Andrej Jakimovski had 25 points for the Buffaloes (14-20), who won twice in the Big 12 tourney as its first No. 16 seed to finish a trying season on a high note. Leading scorer Julian Hammond III managed just nine points on 2-for-13 shooting.
The Cougars, who lost in the Big 12 title game to Iowa State last year, have won 11 consecutive games since losing in overtime to Texas Tech on Feb. 1. That streak includes another win over the Buffaloes in early February.
Takeaways
Colorado lost forward Sebastian Rancik to an injury in the first half. And without another body off the bench, the grind of playing three games in three days was evident as Houston wore the Buffaloes down in the second half.
Houston advanced to its seventh straight conference tournament semifinal. It won the American title in 2021 and '22.
Key moment
Colorado closed within 66-58 with 5 1/3 minutes left when Uzan hit a pair of 3-pointers to give the Cougars a cushion.
Key stats
Houston trailed for only 29 seconds in the game.
Up next
The Cougars play BYU in the semifinals. They won their regular-season matchup 86-55 in early January.
3 game-changing factors in Houston’s quest for Big 12 Tournament glory
Mar 13, 2025, 10:06 am
Jalen Green had 29 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 111-104 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night in a game where Houston’s Steven Adams and Phoenix’s Mason Plumlee were ejected for fighting.
Alperen Sengun scored 20 points and Dillon Brooks added 19 to help the Rockets extend their winning streak to four.
Bradley Beal's two free throws got the Suns within eight with about 9 1/2 minutes to go before Houston used a 9-2 run to make it 99-84 with about seven minutes remaining. Jock Landale opened the run with a 3-point play and Brooks capped it with a layup after a turnover by Devin Booker.
Adams and Plumlee were ejected before halftime after getting into a fight where Adams wrestled Plumlee to the court.
STEVEN ADAMS AND MASON PLUMLEE SCUFFLE 😳
Both players got ejected after altercation. pic.twitter.com/dgji2IBhOo
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 13, 2025
Beal had 25 points and Booker and Kevin Durant added 19 each as the Suns lost for the third time in four games.
Takeaways
Suns: Phoenix trailed for double digits for most of this one, a game after going to the wire in a 120-118 loss at Memphis on Monday night.
Rockets: Fred VanVleet had 10 points in 28 minutes in his return after missing 16 games with a right ankle strain. Houston needs him to return to form quickly as the team looks to finish the regular season strong and try to move up in the standings.
Key moment
The big run by the Rockets in the fourth that allowed them to pad the lead.
Key stat
The Suns made just 10 3-pointers Wednesday night after they made 20, with a season-high seven from Durant, on Monday night.
Up next
Both teams play Friday night. Phoenix hosts Sacramento, and Houston hosts Dallas.