Houston holds off late surge by Oregon State to advance to Final Four for first time since 1984

Oregon State’s remarkable, upset-filled run is over, but not without putting up a fight in the Elite Eight. The No. 12 seed Beavers fell 67-61 to the No. 2 seed Houston Cougars on Monday night. After trailing 34-17 at halftime, Oregon State outscored Houston 44-33 in the second half, and even tied the game 55-55 with 3:45 remaining.

And here's a banked three that counts. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/wHwMvnBFAH

— The Comeback (@thecomeback) March 30, 2021

But Quetin Grimes scored seven points — as part of an 18-point performance after that to lead Oregon State to a Final Four-clinching victory.

Houston only shot 32.3% from the field in this game, compared to 46.8% for Oregon State. But the Cougars dominated the boards, pulling down 41 rebounds (29 for Oregon State), with 19 of the rebounds coming on the offensive end (seven for Oregon State).

The Cougars move on to the Final Four for the first time since 1984 (which was their third straight year of making it), and they had a very unique, rather fortunate path to get there this time. Houston has played four double-digit seeds in the tournament, making them the first team in tournament history to reach the Final Four by doing that.

Houston becomes the first team to take down 4 double-digit seeds en route to the #FinalFour!#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/P7sW35mpqy

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 30, 2021

Now, this doesn’t at all take away from the run Kelvin Sampson and the Cougars have put together. This is a fantastic basketball team that currently ranks behind only Gonzaga and Baylor — two teams that may also be in the Final Four — according to Ken Pomeroy’s metrics.

Houston will face the winner of Baylor-Arkansas in the Final Four in what should be a great game regardless of the opponent.