For 20 minutes Friday night, Houston looked at risk of another disappointing Sweet 16 exit.
But the Cougars found their stroke to start the second half and held on for a thrilling 62-60 win over Purdue thanks to a perfectly executed inbounds play that resulted in Milos Uzan's game-winning layup with 0.9 seconds remaining.
Uzan's game-winner capped a heroic effort for the junior transfer, who led Houston's offense the entire game.
Uzan kept a cold first-half shooting effort (30%) afloat with 12 of Houston's 29 first-half points. He finished with a career-high six 3-pointers and got some help from his teammates in the second half as Houston rallied from a 31-29 halftime deficit.
With the win, Houston breaks a two-year streak of losing in the Sweet 16 as a No. 1 seed. In 2023, No. 5 seed Miami upended Houston in the Sweet 16 en route to the Final Four. Last year, No. 4 seed Duke ground out a 54-51 win over Houston in a game in which Cougars All-American Jamal Shead was injured.
But there's no letdown in 2025. The Cougars advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2021 and will face a showdown on Sunday in the Midwest regional final against Tennessee in a game that will feature two of the best defenses in the nation.
Uzan, in his first season since transferring from Oklahoma, was the hero Friday night. As All-Big 12 guard LJ Cryer went scoreless in the first half Uzan shot 4 of 6 from 3 before halftime. The Cougars then started the second half on an 8-1 run and before taking the first double-digit lead of the game at 56-46 on another Uzan 3.
Playing in a virtual home game in Indianapolis, 65 miles away from its West Lafayette campus, Purdue rallied to cut Houston's lead to 57-55 inside four minutes. But Cryer, who started the game shooting 1 of 11 from the field, came up clutch to regain momentum for the Cougars.
He pulled up for a 3-pointer on an assist from Uzan that connected to extend Houston's lead to 60-55 with 3:34 remaining.
But Purdue wasn't done. The Boilermakers rallied to tie the game at 60-60 on a Camden Heide 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining, setting up Houston for a last look at the basket in regulation.
Uzan's floater missed the mark, and the Cougars retained possession with a team rebound on an out-of-bounds play with 2.8 seconds remaining to set up Uzan for the game-winning bucket.