Houston men’s basketball head coach Kelvin Sampson was all class Saturday after his team beat Gonzaga.
The top-seeded Cougars outlasted the 8th-seeded Bulldogs 81-76 in their second-round matchup of the NCAA Tournament at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan. Despite coming into the contest as heavy underdogs, Gonzaga gave their opponents all they could handle.
Bulldogs guard Khalif Battle drained two clutch free throws to get Gonzaga within one point with 21 seconds left. After Houston made two free throws on the other end, Battle had a chance to tie the game with a three. But the Gonzaga senior was swallowed up by Houston’s defense and failed to get a proper shot off.
Battle was in tears after the final buzzer sounded. Sampson made sure to give his opponent a shoulder to cry on. The 69-year-old head coach came over to comfort Battle, who had his face fully buried in his jersey. The two then shared an emotional embrace.