The first Elite Eight contest of this year’s NCAA Tournament was a blowout for half the game, and it didn’t go to plan by any means. In a game featuring Villanova and Houston – both of whom have the top 10 offenses of the season – it has been a lousy, low-scoring defensive slugfest so far as the No. 2-seeded Wildcats held a 27-20 advantage at halftime. .
Villanova led up to 11 points in the first half before missing 10 of their last 12 field goal attempts that put Houston in the lead before the break. That was key for the Cougars, whose offense (which went 0 of 8 from 3-point range) spat but whose defense allowed them to lag.
Houston and coach Kelvin Sampson have a knack for figuring things out on the fly, so expect the Cougars to continue to hide and keep things interesting even against a veteran Villanova squad that is doing little. mistakes and will not fight.
CBS Sports will be with you the whole way Saturday with live updates, analysis and highlights. Keep it locked here as the Wildcats and Cougars face off with a trip to the Final Four down the line. You can watch all the action on March Madness Live.