2 weeks Ago By Indianapolis Star
INDIANAPOLIS — Emanuel Sharp hit shot after shot as Tennessee mounted its attempts at a comeback, and his combination of suffocating defense and clutch scoring sent Houston to its second Final Four in five seasons and brought home some hardware.The Cougars' sharp-shooting junior guard was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Midwest Region All-Tournament team Sunday as his team advanced through the NCAA tournament regional hosted at Lucas Oil Stadium.Sharp was one of five members on the All-Tournament team, joined by fellow Cougars starters L.
J. Cryer and Milos Uzan as well as Purdue's Braden Smith and Tennessee's Jordan Gainey.The team featured all five guards as backcourts quickly became the story of the region.
On Sunday, it ended with Houston's trio of Sharp, Cryer and Uzan locking down and outdueling Tennessee's of Gainey, Zakai Zeigler and Chaz Lanier.Doyel: Braden Smith gave Houston problems. It honored the Purdue basketball star's greatnessTrue to his name, Sharp delivered in the key moments, as he finished with 16 points, including four 3-pointers.
It was his third straight double-digit scoring effort, which peaked with a 17-point performance to beat Purdue."Behind L.J.
(Cryer), E-Man is the second-best shooter in the country," Uzan said. "For him to get so many reps up, it's not like it's something new. He guards every game, and he's always ready to shoot the ball.
"Cryer was also strong in the regional final, finishing with a game-high 17 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. He struggled with just five points against Purdue but turned in a torrid performance against Gonzaga to reach the Sweet 16 with 30 points.Uzan took a backseat in the regional final, scoring only six points.
But he drilled six 3-pointers to total 22 points in order to pull out the 62-60 last-second victory over Purdue to have the chance to throttle Tennessee on Sunday.Insider: Houston's game-winning play shows why its a national championship contenderSmith was at his smoothest in that game, scoring only seven points but churning out a season-high 15 assists. He also turned in 20 points in a tournament-opening win over High Point and was the driving force to return Purdue to the Sweet 16 for a second straight season.
"I was looking at the Braden Smith kid last night. That was the first time I had seen him in person," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. "The thing that jumped out to me, what makes him so good, look at his size (6 foot, 170 pounds).
Not very big, right? But he knows how to compete. He changes the game with his competitiveness. He's not only Purdue's best player.
He's their identity."Gainey was the only Volunteer who could find a scoring touch Sunday. Tennessee became the first No.
1 or 2 seed to score only 15 points in a first half in NCAA tournament history, but Gainey finished with a game-high 17 points.This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue basketball's Braden Smith on Midwest Region All-Tournament team.
