NORMAN, Okla. – Jamal Shead made a short follow-up jumper with 0.4 seconds left, and No. 1 Houston beat Oklahoma 87-85 on Saturday night, giving coach Kelvin Sampson a victory over one of his former schools.
Shead missed a layup attempt, but corralled the rebound and put the Cougars back in front after they blew a 15-point lead. Emanuel Sharp deflected a desperation pass from Oklahoma's Milos Uzan as time expired.
LJ Cryer led Houston (26-3, 13-3 Big 12) with 23 points, making 5 of 9 three-pointers. J'Wan Roberts added 20 points on 10-of-12 shooting and Shead scored 14 points. Houston shot 56.7% from the field and Oklahoma shot 52.7%.
Rivaldo Soares scored 16 points for Oklahoma (19-10, 7-9). Le'Tre Darthard scored 15 points, finishing 5 of 7 from 3-point range.
Sampson coached Oklahoma from 1994-2006 and ranks second in program history with 279 wins and first in winning percentage (.719). Before Saturday, he had never coached against the Sooners, but Houston's entry into the Big 12 for this basketball season provided that opportunity.
Sampson received a warm welcome as he entered the Lloyd Noble Arena court, with many fans clapping, cheering and rising to their feet. Just before the player introductions, Sampson and his three assistants with Oklahoma ties — former players Hollis Price, Quannas White and his son Kellen Sampson — were individually recognized with announcements and photographed on the video board.
Houston made its first week at No. 1 this season a successful one, with two wins. The Cougars are one game ahead of No. 8 Iowa State in the conference standings with two games left in the regular season and remain in the conversation for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. Houston has won eight of the last nine games it has played as the No. 1-ranked team and is 35-5 overall and tops the AP poll.
Oklahoma lost its second game of the week against a top-10 opponent, after losing 58-45 at Iowa State on Wednesday night.
The Sooners pushed Houston to the limit. Javian McCollum's layup with 11.8 seconds tied it at 85. It came after a hurried play by Uzan, who located a rebound from a missed free throw and lofted it into Sharp's leg, allowing him to carom out of bounds.
Godwin was 6 of 6 from the field and led Oklahoma with 17 points, also missing only one free throw in six attempts. He also had seven rebounds.
