It was obvious early that Tennessee was in trouble against Houston's defense as the Volunteers had no one who could beat a Cougars defender one-on-one.

A closer look at the Sweet 16 matchup between Houston and Purdue, with an Elite Eight berth on the line Friday.

Houston men's basketball dialed up a last-second inbound play that gave Milos Uzan an easy basket vs. Purdue - and sent the Cougars to the Elite Eight

In one of their most dominant defensive performances in recent memory, the Cougars absolutely pounced on Volunteers. Although both teams struggled offensively, Houston still shot nearly twice as high of a mark from the field as Tennessee (41.7 percent compared to 21.4 percent). Tennessee also made just one of their 15 attempts from three.

Kelvin Sampson has one a lot of games, even at IU, but the biggest win has eluded his teams. Houston, taking the toughest NCAA tournament path, wants to win it for him.

Houston’s relentless, harassing defense had Tennessee’s shooters dancing around. Now, the Cougars are two-stepping it back to Texas. L.J.

The top-seeded Cougars were in enemy territory at Midwest Region games in Indianapolis, but they dominated Tennessee in Sunday’s region final to reach the Final Four.