Houston Cougars forward J’Wan Roberts (13) talks with head coach Kelvin Sampson during a break in play against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the first half at Intrust Bank Arena. / Nick Tre. Smith-Imagn Images
The 1-seeded Houston Cougars fended off a furious comeback from the 8-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs to hang on for an 81-76 victory in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Saturday from Wichita, Kansas.
Houston never trailed and led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but a spectacular second half performance from Graham Ike and timely baskets from Ryan Nembhard helped Gonzaga trim its double-digit deficit down to one with under 30 seconds remaining in regulation.
Ike had 23 of his 27 points after halftime. Nembhard had a 10-point, 11-assist night. Those two combined to score 16 straight points in a 6-minute span to make it 77-74 with 38 seconds remaining before Khalif Battle knocked down two free-throws to make it 77-76. Houston struggled to put the ball in the basket down the stretch, though it did just enough defensively to hold on and clinch its sixth straight trip to the Sweet 16.
Here’s what Houston’s head coach had to say after the game.
“No, I didn’t see that all those years ago. I didn’t know what the hall-of-fame was all those years ago. You’ve got to remember I was the head coach when I was 31, and who hires a 31-year-old, right? Just think of all the people that had to turn the job down to get to me.”
“And Mark hasn’t changed, you know? He’s still the same humble guy. We all started together on the Palouse, and I’m proud of that. I’m proud that I started on the southwest mountains of Montana and south Eastern Washington, seven miles from Idaho’s campus. I’m proud that I came from that and I’m proud that Mark and I have grown just like Karen and I; Marcy and Mark, our our wives have meant so much to us. There’s no chance we’re where we are without our wives. Mark would be the first to tell you that.”
“First of all, [Gonzaga] didn’t miss any free throws. They were 15-of-15. Pretty good recipe, and they’re good. You know this KenPom analytics are pretty spot on. That’s the eighth or ninth best team in the country. They should have never been seeded where they were seeded. I get the analytical component. I also think the eye test should come into play too.”
“You look at that team, I mean — we came from the Big 12, and we’re in a league with Kansas, Iowa State, the Arizona schools — Gonzaga’s as good as anybody we’ve played all year. Personnel wise, too, Ike and Huff, Nembhard, I mean, that’s a really good team. Had they been seeded somewhere else, that team probably has a chance to get to the Elite Eight and maybe even Final Four. They’re that good. So why we couldn’t pull away? That’s No. 1. Let’s give them credit. They kept playing.”
“I think two of the great cultures in our country is Gonzaga and Houston, and I think that’s one of the reasons why they’ve been to the Sweet 16 — what was it nine in a row? Right? Who does that? Please don’t take them for granted. They’re just awesome. I have so much respect for them, and this is number six for us, and I hope people don’t take this for granted either. The staffs and the programs, the players at those schools have to be high character kids that care more about winning than statistics.”
“You asked me about Khalif Battle. We played against him when he was at Temple. And first of all, I admired the young man for choosing to go to Gonzaga, because that tells me winning is important. A lot of guys in this portal jump in the portal because they’re not getting enough shots, not getting enough touches. They don’t care about winning. When Battle chose to go to play for Mark and his staff, that shows some maturity, because it’s not easy to go somewhere where you’re gonna get coached the right way and and he’ll benefit from this. Those tears he had at the end of the game told me how much he cared and how much this mattered to him. It’s always a little sad, because we were there last year when we lost to Duke, but proud of our guys and Gonzaga is not going anywhere. They’ll be back.”
