UH Basketball Shocks Wichita State, Advances To AAC Final

HOUSTON, TX — The Houston Cougars squandered a nine-point lead but came back to beat Wichita State, 77-74, in the American Athletic Conference semifinal Saturday afternoon in Orlando. Houston's Rob Gray made an unbelievable defensive play and assist to give the Cougars a lead with 1:04 remaining, then he sank two free throws to end it.

Wichita State (25-7, 14-4) was the No. 2 seed in the tournament while the Cougars (26-6, 14-4) were the No. 3 team. Houston moves on to face top-seed Cincinnati on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. on CBS.

Pretty much a lock to make it as an at-large team into next week's NCAA Men's Tournament, the Cougars will now aim for an automatic bid into the tournament if they win Sunday. Should they fall, they will wait for Selection Sunday (March 11) to see where they'll land. The Sunday Selection show will air on TBS at 5 p.m.

Houston led by nine after Corey Davis Jr.'s 3-pointer started the second-half scoring. Wichita State tied the game at 54-54 on Landry Shamet's 3-pointer almost midway through the second half. The teams traded leads, fouls and great plays until Houston's Rob Gray intercepted a pass and drove the court before dishing t0 Galen Robinson Jr. for a layup and 75-74 lead with 1:04 remaining.

Gray missed a 23-foot shot with 37 seconds to go, and then the officials needed to watch one replay multiple times — after the clock stopped during a play — to determine Wichita State would get the ball with 6.5 seconds and four on the shot clock. The Shockers inbounded the ball that was stolen by Robinson.

Gray, who led all scorers with 33 points, made two free throws to put the game away. Gray sank 13-of-15 free throws on the game, including his last nine. He also went 4-of-10 from three-point land. The Cougars thwarted a last-second desperation three to hold on for the win.

Houston was ranked No. 21 in the final regular-season poll. No. 11 Wichita State has 14-to-1 odds of winning the the NCAA tournament.

Top image: Rob Gray (32) of the Houston Cougars drives to the basket during a semifinal game of the 2018 AAC Basketball Championship against the Wichita State Shockers at Amway Center on March 10, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)