Milos Uzan scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half to help top-seeded Houston cruise to a 78-40 victory over SIU Edwardsville on Thursday in Midwest Region first-round play at Wichita, Kan.
L.J. Cryer scored all 15 of his points in the first half and Ja’Vier Francis had 13 points and eight rebounds as Houston (31-4) easily beat 16th-seeded SIU Edwardsville (22-12).
On a 14-game winning streak, Houston will face No. 8 Gonzaga in the second round on Saturday. The Zags beat No. 9 Georgia 89-68 on Thursday.
“For us, it’s just about to playing to our standards,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “We have standards. I’m not into prognosticating. I know this time of year, the toughest teams are the ones that play up to their identity. Those are the teams that have the best chance so we’re just going to keep doing that.”
SIU Edwardsville star Ray’Sean Taylor had 10 points on just 3-of-13 shooting. Taylor finished his career with a school-record 1,962 points.
His cousin, Brian Taylor, also had 10 points for Edwardsville, which qualified for its first NCAA Tournament appearance by winning the Ohio Valley Conference postseason tournament.
When asked a question about his legacy at the school, Ray’Sean Taylor became emotional. He persevered through ACL tears in 2020 and 2022.
“As for our legacy, we won a championship at the end of the day so that is going to cement everything I worked for and everything I went through,” Taylor said. “… It’s more than win or lose, it’s about bouncing back.”
Houston shot a torrid 61.3 percent in the first half but dropped to 22.9 in the second to finish at 40.9 percent overall. Houston was 8 of 13 from 3-point range in the first half but ended up 10 of 28.
Houston held a dominating 50-27 rebound advantage. Emanuel Sharp had four of Houston’s 11 steals. J’Wan Roberts had six points and three rebounds in 20 minutes after missing Houston’s previous three games with an ankle injury.
Edwardsville made just 5 of 25 shots (20 percent) in the second half and finished at 30.6 for the game. Edwardsville was a lowly 2 of 24 from behind the arc with Ray’Sean Taylor missing seven of his eight attempts.
Cryer made four first-half treys, Uzan was 6-of-7 shooting and Francis had 11 points as Houston led 52-24 at the break.
“I’ve been playing a lot more aggressive than I did at the start of the year,” Uzan said. “Credit to the coaching staff and my teammates. I felt they made it a lot easier for me. We’ve been having success and now he to keep going.”
Edwardsville last led at 4-2 before the Cougars ripped off a 19-2 surge. Francis’ jumper capped it and made it 21-6 with 12:05 remaining.
Houston’s advantage reached 20 when Francis made two free throws to make it 36-16 with 5:49 remaining.
Cryer concluded the half in style with two 3-pointers in the final 35 seconds, the latter one narrowly beating the buzzer.
Roberts’ basket to open the second half pushed the lead to 30.
Houston’s advantage reached 40 on Mylik Wilson’s jumper to make it 72-32 with 6:45 left.
–Field Level Media
