Ryan Elvin, a senior walk-on for Houston, stepped to the foul line with 17 seconds remaining in overtime with his team leading by three and a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
Almost all of Elvin’s 60 minutes of action throughout the season came during garbage time. But a second earlier, a fourth Cougars player fouled out of the game, forcing head coach Kelvin Sampson to send him to the scorer’s table.
In what was maybe the best game of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, Houston held on to a four-point lead to defeat Texas A&M 100-95 on Sunday. The contest featured one of the most unexpected heroes.
Afterward, Shead remarked, I was shocked he missed one.” He labors in the same way that we do. Furthermore, if I’m not mistaken, he puts in more labor than we do. That man is a cornerstone of our society and someone we trust.
With the win, the top-seeded Cougars made it to their fourth consecutive Sweet 16 playoff, where they will play No. 4 seed Duke in the South Regional on Friday in Dallas.
