March Madness: Sasser, Houston beat Auburn, move on to Sweet 16

BIRMINGHAM,Ala. (AP) — Marcus Sasser looked just fine, scoring 22 points, andtop-seeded Houston stifled local favorite Auburn in the second halffor an 81-64 victory in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.

The Cougars(33-3)overcame a 10-point halftime deficit, returningafter the break with a chip on their shoulders.

Essentiallyshutting down the lane, Houston played with the desperation of anational championship contender that wasn’t ready to suffer thesame fate as Purdue and Kansas — No. 1s that already were senthome.

Led by TramonMark with 26 points, Houston advanced to face either No. 4 Indianaor No. 5 Miami, which play Sunday, at the Sweet 16 in Kansas City,Missouri.

The Tigers(21-13) were doomed by a stretch of more than 10 1/2 minuteswithout a field goal and finished just 4 of 24 from the field inthe second half.

Auburn diddraw plenty of fouls, only to struggle mightily at the line at 19of 36. Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome led the Tigers with 14points apiece.

Sasser had dealt with a groininjury over the past week, but that didn’t seem to cause himany problems. When he swished a 3-pointer to push Houston backahead, 46-45, he let out an emphatic scream on his way back downthe court.

He finished 5of 9 beyond the arc.

Sasser’s onlyissue was foul trouble. The All-American guard and his runningmate, point guard Jamal Shead, were both forced to the bench withfour fouls apiece with the game still in doubt.

But Mark keptthe Cougars right on rolling offensively, and the Jarace Walker-leddefense just refused to let Auburn back in the game.

Houston had12 blocks, half of them swatted away by Walker. Houston scored thefinal nine points to blow it open at the end, with Sasserdelivering another key shot from beyond the 3-point stripe.

Auburn rippedoff a 17-4 run over the final 5 1/2 minutes of the first half.Williams scored eight of those points, swishing a 3-pointer andalso converting a three-point play.

Houstonmissed six of its last eight shots in the half, its only basketscoming on a pair of layups.

But theCougars would not be denied, even with the Tigers having ahome-state edge. Legacy Arena in Birmingham is only about atwo-hour drive from their east Alabama campus.

BIGPICTURE

Auburn: TheTigers wrapped up an inconsistent season in appropriate fashion.They last won back-to-back games on Jan. 18 and 21, closing out theseason by winning only five of their last 15 games.

Houston:Sasser now has plenty of time to rest his groin, which should givehim even more confidence that he’s not going to have any moreproblems.

UPNEXT

Houston isheading to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the last five yearsunder Kelvin Sampson. The Cougars have never won a national title,despite six appearances in the Final Four.