BYU beats Houston at the buzzer, 72-71

POSTED: November 16, 2019 -- 7:57 a.m. CT

HOUSTON, TX (Fertitta Center) -- TJ Haws got a shooter's bounce on a tough, fade away jump shot from about 17-feet which beat the final buzzer to give the BYU Cougars a 72-71 victory over the Houston Cougars Friday night.

With the loss, Houston's record falls to 1-1 on the young 2019-'20 season; and, BYU's record improves to 3-1. Houston led for only 3 minutes and 3 seconds in the ball game. BYU's experience was definitely a factor in the win as their seven seniors showcased savvy each time Houston made a comeback effort in the second half. In contrast, Houston has 1 senior, center Chris Harris Jr, on this year's roster.

"You could tell, at times tonight, it looked like men against boys," Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson said after the game. "Not in terms of physical, but experience wise."

Sampson added, "Their (BYU) strength is their age and how veteran they are and how well-oiled they are. They understand and know what they are doing."

In the first half, Houston's offense was stuck in the mud as the Coogs missed open outside shots against BYU's sagging defense which clogged the paint and forced Houston to attempt shots from the perimeter.

Houston attempted 11 three-pointers in the first half but made only 2; and, 11 for 30 overall from the floor for 36.7%.

BYU didn't shoot a great field goal percentage in the first half (39.4%, 13 for 33); however, BYU made 6 of 15 three-point shot attempts in the opening 20 minutes.

"Between our layups and our wide open threes it just seemed like we were out of sync offensively," Sampson remarked after the game. "But, that's because the ball wasn't coming in. That ball going in solves a lot of problems; and, when it doesn't go in, it creates a lot of problems."

Houston trailed by as much as 14 points (31-17) with 6:24 remaining in the first half; however, BYU's offense went cold and Houston's offense perked up enough (made 5 consecutive baskets) as redshirt-freshman guard Caleb Mills scored 4 of Houston's 11 points as Houston outscored BYU 11-4 to close the half to trail 35-28 at halftime.

Both teams finished the half missing field goal attempts: UH missed 6 straight field goals while BYU made just 1 of their last 10 field goals. BYU was scoreless the last 3:39 of the first half.

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The first six minutes of second half saw Houston get within 4 points three times; but, BYU answered each time and increased the lead to 7 or 8 points each time.

BYU led 48-40 with 13:47 before Houston got within 1 point (52-51) 8:57 remaining. BYU stretched the lead to 59-53 with 7:17 on the clock; but, once again, Houston made another run and pulled within two points twice before BYU answered with 4 straight points for a 65-59 lead with 4:39 on the game clock.

Houston's Caleb Mills sank a three-point shot to begin an 12-5 run and put Houston ahead 71-70 with 1:25 on the clock. Mills scored 7 points and assisted on another 3 points during the run.

Mills sank two free throws for the 71-70 lead; and, after Houston's defense held BYU scoreless, Mills had the ball in his hands in the final 46 seconds. Mills did not score; but, it's clear Head Coach Kelvin Sampson believes in Mills' scoring ability.

"I liked that he could score, he was dependable," Sampson remarked. "Caleb's a talented offensive player."

BYU called timeout with 20 seconds remaining; but, after the timeout, Houston's Nate Hinton made a great defensive play and stripped the ball for a steal. However, as Hinton went into the frontcourt to retrieve the ball, he palmed the ball as he raced to the basket. In hindsight, Hinton should have opted to either hold the ball and wait for BYU to foul him.

"I was hoping he would just dribble it out," Sampson acknowledged. "We didn't need two points. We didn't need a basket there. We needed to just dribble it out a little. They've got to foul you, but they have to catch you to foul you.

"But, f I were going down a dark alley alone, on this team, the one guy I would take, would be Nate Hinton. I would go to war with that kid any day. I love that kid; he plays his heart out.

"Could he make better decisions? Of course, he can, he'll get better at that."

Five seconds remained in the game after Hinton's miscue. BYU called timeout and set up the final play. TJ Haws caught the ball in the backcourt; dribbled up the court to his right; then, launched a one-legged jumper over Houston's Quentin Grimes' out-stretched hand. The ball hit the rim once and fell through the net.

"He did a good job. He took an off-balance hard shot," Sampson said of Haws' game-winning shot. "If it misses we are running around here happy, but we didn't play good enough to win the game."

Sampson is disappointed in the loss; but, he's not disappointed in his team's effort.

"I'm not overly concerned about the loss. I am worried about our next practice and just getting better. We are going to get better. This is November 15, and we were good enough to lose by one tonight in a game we trailed by 14 against a veteran team. We just have to stay with it and keep pounding the rock."

Houston's next game is Tuesday, November 19, on the road (kind of), against the Rice Owls. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Tudor Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network on Facebook.

CLICK HERE for The HRR's write-ups of Coogs' men's hoops games.