Emanuel Sharpe scored 26 points, LJ Cryer had 20 and second-ranked Houston stifled No. 17 BYU in a 74-54 victory that moved the Cougars into the Big 12 Tournament championship game for the second consecutive season.

Much has changed for BYU since it lost to Houston on Jan. 4, and Kelvin Sampson has noticed. Though Sampson’s squad defeated the blue Cougars in Friday’s Big 12 tournament semifinal, the veteran head coach was quick to credit BYU for its improvement since the teams’ first meeting.

Two of the hottest teams in college basketball met in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Friday evening when No. 2 Houston took on No. 17 BYU.

Second-ranked Houston turned to its relentless defense to shut down No. 17 BYU and return to the Big 12 Tournament title game for a second consecutive season.

Final from Kansas City: BYU 54 Houston 74 BYU's new season low in scoring comes against UH in the Big 12 tourney semis; BYU's previous low was 55 points at Houston. Cougs shot a season-low 31.7% from the field and a season-low 21.4% from the arc (6-for-28). Houston was the…

UH continued a dominating run in the Big 12 play, winning for the 21st time in 22 games this season. The 21 wins match the most wins for a major conference team in league play since 1996-97, matching Arizona, Florida, Kentucky and UConn.

Both BYU's nine game win streak and Big 12 tournament stay have come to an end. The Cougars were vanquished by No. Houston Friday night in Kansas City, falling in 74-54 fashion to arguably the best team in the sport.

Emanuel Sharpe scored 26 points, LJ Cryer had 20 and second-ranked Houston stifled No. 17 BYU in a 74-54 victory Friday night that moved the Cougars into the Big 12 Tournament championship game for the second consecutive season.

In the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals, BYU scored 49 points in the first half against Iowa State. But in the semifinals against #2 Houston, BYU didn’t eclipse the 49-point mark until there were three minutes left in the game.