Houston Cougars On SI

Houston beats Gonzaga: Score, live updates of NCAA Tournament second-round matchup

Follow along as the Cougars take on the Bulldogs for a berth in the Sweet 16

Buck Ringgold

Houston's Joseph Tugler (right)
Houston's Joseph Tugler (right) / William Purnell/Imagn Images
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A berth in the Sweet 16 is on the line Saturday night as Houston takes on Gonzaga.

Houston, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region, faces No. 8 seed Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, which is taking place in Wichita, Kan.

How to watch, stream Houston basketball vs. Gonzaga in NCAA 2nd round: TV, prediction

The Cougars are aiming to go into the Sweet 16 for the sixth consecutive time, while the Bulldogs want to continue their active record streak of reaching that round, having gone to the Sweet 16 in the nine previous NCAA Tournaments.

Houston (31-4) comes in on a 14-game winning streak and have currently won 27 of its last 28 ballgames. Gonzaga (26-8) has won five straight games and 10 of its past 11 contests.

Kelvin Sampson offers analogy when giving the correct pronunciation of Gonzaga

Follow Houston Cougars On SI writer Buck Ringgold (@Bucks_Ballpark) for all of the live updates and scoring from Wichita's INTRUST Bank Arena. Refresh for the latest score and live updates.

HOUSTON 81, GONZAGA 76, FINAL

(Refresh for the latest updates)

SECOND HALF

- LJ Cryer scores 30 big-time points and Houston advances to the Sweet 16 with a hard-fought 81-76 victory.

- This is the J'Wan Roberts and LJ Cryer game. Two grown men dominating in big moments. Roberts has 18 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, and Cryer has a game-high 28 points. Houston leads 76-65 with 4:28 left.

- Houston is going to shoot a lot of free throws down the stretch. LJ Cryer is 6-of-6 from the line. Houston leads 74-63 with 5:50 left.

- The two graduate starters in Houston's lineup, LJ Cryer and J'Wan Roberts, have combined to go 16-of-30 from the field and score 40 points. They're not wanting their seasons to end any time soon. (Houston, 70-60 | 6:39, 2nd)

- 3-POINTER HOUSTON. LJ Cryer with his sixth trey on the night. He's up to 24 points now. What a game from the guy attempting to win two national titles with two different teams. (Houston, 70-58 | 7:32, 2nd)

- 3-POINTER HOUSTON. And once again, another momentum-stopping trey by the Cougars after Gonzaga cut it to seven. This one was courtesy of LJ Cryer. (Houston, 63-53 | 9:08, 2nd)

- And JoJo Tugler does get into double figures. Four Cougars now in double figures. (Houston, 60-46 | 11:27, 2nd)

- LJ Cryer and J'Wan Roberts already with 16 points each for Houston, while Emanuel Sharp has 12. JoJo Tugler also knocking on the door of double digits with 8. (Houston, 58-46 | 11:41, 2nd)

- 3-POINTER HOUSTON. Houston continues to hit clutch treys every time Gonzaga tries to draw near. This time, it was Milos Uzan. (Houston, 58-46 | 12:01, 2nd)

- 3-POINTER HOUSTON. Emanuel Sharp gets his first trey on the night, and Houston is up 11 at the first media time out of the second half. It could be a four-point play, as Sharp was fouled on the shot. (Houston, 48-37 | 15:23, 2nd)

- And two more baskets for J'Wan Roberts. He has four baskets inside of the first three minutes of the second half. (Houston, 43-31 | 17:16, 2nd)

- J'Wan Roberts with a pair of quick baskets to start the second half. Coogs back up by double digits. (Houston, 39-27 | 19:10, 2nd)

HALFTIME STATS AND ANALYSIS

- LJ Cryer with 16 points and four 3-pointers in the first half, a big reason why Houston has an eight-point halftime lead. Cryer also had more treys than the entire Gonzaga team, as the Bulldogs made just 3-of-11 attempts from beyond the arc. JoJo Tugler and J'wan Roberts each with 6 points and 6 boards.

FIRST HALF

- Joseph Tugler halted the Gonzaga run with a basket inside the final minute. Tugler has 6 points and has grabbed 6 rebounds. (Houston, 35-27 | :50, 1st)

- Kelvin Sampson calls a time out after Gonzaga pulls within six after hitting a 3. (Houston, 33-27 | 1:06, 1st)

- At the under-4 media time out. Houston already with 10 assists - four from Milos Uzan - and five offensive rebounds. (Houston, 33-22 | 3:55, 1st)

- 3-POINTER HOUSTON. Guess who? Yep. LJ Cryer now with his fourth triple and has 16 points. (Houston, 31-17 | 5:25, 1st)

- Houston is 48% from the field (12-of-25) and 50% from 3-point range (3-of-6), with LJ Cryer hitting all three. Gonzaga is 8-of-19 from the field and 1-of-8 from 3-point land. (Houston, 28-17 | 6:17, 1st)

- 3-POINTER HOUSTON. LJ Cryer at it again. He has made 5-of-6 baskets and is now 3-of-4 from long distance. Already up to 13 points on the night. (Houston, 24-12 | 8:00, 1st)

- Make it 4-of-4 for LJ Cryer, as he already has 10 points before the second media time out. (Houston, 17-8 | 11:42, 1st)

- LJ Cryer has now made each of his first three baskets. He's been ready to play thus far. (Houston, 15-6 | 12:32, 1st)

- 3-POINTER HOUSTON. And yet another LJ Cryer triple. Cougars already 2-of-3 from 3-point land while Gonzaga has just made 1-of-6 shots from the field. (Houston, 10-2 | 15:40, 1st)

- 3-POINTER HOUSTON. LJ Cryer launches a trey and the Cougars have opened up a sizable early lead near the under-16 media time out. (Houston, 7-2 | 16:02, 1st)

- JoJo Tugler puts back in his own missed shot, and Houston has grabbed the early advantage. (Houston, 2-0 | 19:47, 1st)

PREGAME

- Tonight's Houston starting five: Guards Milos Uzan, LJ Cryer and Emanuel Sharp. Forwards J'Wan Roberts and Joseph Tugler.

- Coming to you from INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, as Houston attempts to reach its sixth straight Sweet 16 as the Cougars take on Gonzaga in an NCAA Tournament Midwest Region second-round game. The winner moves on to face Purdue on Friday in the Sweet 16 in Indianapolis.

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Buck Ringgold
BUCK RINGGOLD

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