SAN ANTONIA – Jermaine Samuels scored 16 points and 10 rebounds when Vilanova reached her third final of four NCAAs in the last six NCAA tournaments, beating Houston 50-44 in Saturday’s final in the southern region.
Caleb Daniels added 14 points to the Wildcats (30-7), and the only goal from Colin Gillespie’s game, who scored a fifth-year senior, was a late hit from the clutch.
Because both teams wanted to limit possession, first place in this year’s Final Four in New Orleans was decided in a game that was ugly to watch with all the missed shots.
Vilanova scored from the field 28.8% (15 of 52). The Cougars were only slightly better – 29.8% (17 out of 57), missing the last five shots and 10 out of 11 overall, and they made just one of 20 three-pointers.
Wildcats and coach Jay Wright won’t complain as he seeks to add a third national title to those he won in 2016 and 2018. Vilanova will play either with Kansas, the only No. 1 left under number, or with the 10th seed in Miami in the Final Four next Saturday in New Orleans as he seeks his fourth championship overall.
Taiz Moore scored 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars (32-6), who were denied a place in the Final Four for the first time since 1982-84 during the era of Phil Straw Jama. The starting five has been completely changed from last season, including Moore and two other senior newcomers.
After Vilyanov missed three shots in the same possession – and still had no second chance points in the game – Moore got a long rebound at the break. After initially slowing down, Moore scored a goal on the drive against Gillespie, getting Houston within 42-40 of 5:25.
It was the closest the Cougars were to the game at the AT&T Center, just about 200 miles from their campus, and the crowd was in a loud frenzy when Wright called a timeout. They never got a chance to move forward.
Gillespie, who played in the 2018 Wildcats Championship, shot 1 of 6. But his only goal of the game was scored after a time-out when he entered the 3-point line and hit the jumper with a score of 5:02.
There was a nearly two-minute drought before Justin Moore made two free throws, with a foul by J’Wan Roberts saving the Wildcats when the clock shot was about to run out. These were their only second chance points of the entire game.
Vilanova scored the first five points of the game, including three-pointers Samuels on the first throw.
TRAUMA
Moore of Villanova suffered a shin injury when he slipped while dribbling in the last minute of the game and was on crutches during the Wildcats celebration.
The big picture
Houston: The Cougars reached the Final Four all the previous six times when they played in the regional finals: 1967, 1968, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 2021. … Fifth forward Fabian White Jr., who started only played several times this season, played in his school record 148th game and became part of a record 120 wins.
Vilanova: This is the fourth time in a row that Vilanova has won the regional final and reached the Final Four after 2009, 2016 and 2018. The Wildcats have ranked 20-3 in NCAA tournament games since 2016. … Their 9 -0 in March, their biggest series won this season, and won 14 of 15 overall from the first week of February.
NEXT
Vilanova will play in the national semifinal game against the champion of the Midwest. Kansas and Miami play Sunday in Chicago.
