INDIANAPOLIS — Kelvin Sampson kept screaming, stomping and hovering all over the sideline.
His team kept listening.
There was a way to win the University of Houston’s biggest game in 37 years.
There was a road out of echoing Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday night that would lead the No. 2 Cougars directly to the Elite Eight and another huge national stage.
All UH had to do was keep sticking together. Keep fighting. Keep finding the brief but clear holes in Syracuse’s incredibly frustrating 2-3 zone defense.
Sampson shouted and shouted.
The Coogs followed their coach’s guidance. Forty minutes of hope and faith finally became a 62-46 victory over No. 11 Syracuse.
“We love coach Sampson very much and we would run through a wall for him,” said senior guard DeJon Jarreau, who scored nine points, grabbed eight rebounds, distributed eight assists and was again praised by Sampson after a March Madness win.
The Orange were held to just 28 percent shooting (14 of 50) from the floor and 21.7 percent (5 of 23) on 3-pointers, while the Cougars controlled the boards 40-31.
The buzz for UH’s second consecutive Sweet 16 appearance immediately started building after a tense 63-60 second-round victory over No. 10 Rutgers.
The real noise kicked in an hour before the ball went up inside the best place in the country to watch a basketball game.
The Cougars glided across a multi-colored hardwood, pumped themselves up with powerful dunks, and adjusted to a throwback venue that is more old-school gym than modern arena.
Red outnumbered orange in the socially distanced stands. As Arkansas attempted to hold off a huge Oral Roberts upset on Hinkle’s overhead video board, UH inched closer to another shot in the Sweet 16.
These Coogs hadn’t lost a game since Feb. 18 and entered Saturday with 11 wins in their last 12 contests.
But neither of their initial two games in the 2021 version of March Madness went as expected. No. 15 Cleveland State traded blows throughout the first half of the first round. UH eventually won via a 31-point blowout but Jarreau suffered a hip pointer that almost knocked the Cougars out of The Dance.
Jarreau played through constant pain against the Scarlet Knights. UH trailed 58-49 with less than 5 minutes to go and it took everything from Jarreau and his relentless team to survive and advance a second time.
“Leadership doesn’t have to be loud. It doesn’t have to be words,” Sampson said after a three-point win against Rutgers. “DeJon’s leadership was huge … just by his actions, refusal to lose. Sometimes you don’t play good enough to win, so sometimes you just have to refuse to lose. I would put that in the refuse-to-lose category, and DeJon was the captain of that ship.”
The Coogs remained in Indiana with the easiest road to the Final Four. When Oregon State took down Loyola Chicago on Saturday afternoon, UH’s path forward was straight and clear: Beat a No. 11 and 12 seed, and one of the last four spots in 2021 would belong to Sampson’s rebuilt program.
Could the Cougars finally take down a blueblood when it mattered?
Would Sampson be able to outcoach Jim Boeheim on national TV in Indy?
And how would a selfless, defensive- and rebounding-driven UH squad handle Syracuse’s famous 2-3 zone? The Coogs put up 87 points in the first round and had torched multiple opponents as March approached. Yet Sampson consistently acknowledged that his crew relied on second and third shots, not sleek perimeter precision.
The travelers believed.
As the final pregame minute ticked down, “Whose house? Coogs’ house!” echoed through Hinkle. Red kept standing out.
Boeheim adjusted his mask.
Sampson’s name followed Quentin Grimes’ and Jarreau’s on the speakers.
Thumping bass shook the seats.
UH collected three rebounds before the first official minute was complete. The Coogs’ next battle was on.
It was 5-2 UH. Then it was 8-2. Then the Coogs were winning everything — the paint, the perimeter, transition and hustle points — and held a sparkling 15-5 lead.
Flashing a forward near the free throw line, then passing around the key, UH kept getting what it wanted on both ends of the court, while Syracuse started a flat 2-of-13 from the floor.
The Orange tightened their zone and changed the game.
Sampson’s sideline intensity grew with each clanked shot and painfully slow offensive possession. Syracuse started hitting what it was missing. The Orange tied it at 20 as seats were stomped and “Defense!” rattled through Hinkle.
A Coogs staff member mirrored Sampson’s screams, throwing a plastic bottle against the court that bounced into the stands.
A fan yelled out, “Hey, ref, you’re terrible,” during a timeout. Cheers followed, capturing a fiery first half that had cranked from 10 to 11.
Sampson’s pleas paid off as the break approached. UH hit back with 10 unanswered points, carrying a strong 30-20 lead into halftime and running off the hardwood to proud cheers.
Threes eventually started falling for Syracuse.
UH’s offense again slowed and stagnated, forcing Sampson to stomp and clap his hands, demanding action.
But every time the feeling was altered and the game threatened serious change, the Coogs answered.
“I’m really proud of my team,” said Sampson, saying it all.
A body in red and white flew through the air, sucking up a rebound that could have belonged to the Orange.
An extra pass became a hard dunk.
Grimes waited, studied, stepped forward and drilled a 3. Jarreau collected a turnover and made it 58-43 UH, igniting another roar from the red.
“Houston! Houston! Houston!” took over the gym.
“Every former player and former coach should be proud of this team because of what they accomplished,” Sampson said.
He saw the way to the Elite Eight.
The Coogs followed their coach’s faith to their best and most important win since 1984.
brian.smith@chron.com
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