BYU vs. Houston: Box score, stats, game summary and more ft. LJ Cryer

No. 2 Houston continues its roll through the Big 12 with an easy 74-54 win over No. 17 BYU in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals. The Houston Cougars (29-4) rolled with their usual strong defense stifling BYU (24-9). The BYU Cougars are still safely within the NCAA Tournament field, while Houston will move on to the Big 12 title game.

BYU vs. Houston Box Score

BYU

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	MIN
M. Mag	0	4	0	0	1	2	0	23
E. Demin	6	3	4	2	0	5	2	25
K. Keita	14	12	0	0	2	1	2	22
R. Saunders	10	6	1	1	0	2	4	29
T. Knell	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	19
T. Stewart	5	0	1	1	0	0	3	14
E. Crawford	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
M. Boskovic	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	5
D. Baker	11	1	2	2	0	1	1	23
D. Hall	2	0	4	1	0	1	3	23
F. Traore	4	3	0	0	0	0	2	14

Houston

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	MIN
LJ Cryer	20	2	0	1	0	0	0	33
M. Uzan	14	3	5	0	0	0	0	36
J. Tugler	3	5	0	3	2	1	3	24
E. Sharp	26	4	0	1	0	1	4	33
T. Acrenaux	2	1	0	3	0	2	1	22
K. Jefferson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
C. Lath	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1
J. Francis	4	4	0	0	3	2	2	14
M. Wilson	5	13	3	1	2	1	1	29
M. Miller	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	5

BYU vs. Houston Game Summary

Houston scored the game's first 15 points, frankly rendering this game without doubt from the earliest moments. Four different Houston players had scored before BYU managed its first points. BYU inched to within 23-16 on a Richie Saunders free throw with 6:32 left in the half. Houston responded by reeling off a 18-4 run to claim a 41-20 halftime advantage.

BYU never got closer than 13 points in the second half. The tenacious Houston defense continued to make its mark as one of the best in all of college basketball.

Houston was led by Emmanuel Sharp with 26 points, including five 3-pointers. LJ Cryer added 20 points, including four 3-pointers. Milos Uzan also tallied 14 points for Houston.

BYU was led by Keba Keita with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Dawson Baker added 11 points off the bench and Richie Saunders added 10 points for BYU.

The Houston Cougars will move on to face the winner of the semifinal matchup between Arizona and No. 9 Texas Tech. That title game will be played at 6 pm EST on Saturday and will be broadcast on ESPN. The Cougars seem to have clinched a No. 1 seed and might still compete for the No.1 overall seed.

BYU is projected as a No. 5 seed in the latest ESPN bracketology. The Cougars have continued to play strong despite the loss of coach Mark Pope to Kentucky in the offseason.