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BYU's Richie Saunders (15) shoots as Houston's Terrance Arceneaux (23), Joseph Tugler (11) and L.J. Cryer (4) defend during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.

Charlie Riedel, Associated Press

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BYU's Fousseyni Traore, center, looks to the basket between Houston's Mylik Wilson, left, and Joseph Tugler, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament Friday, March 14, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.

Charlie Riedel, Associated Press

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BYU's Keba Keita soars in for a layup in a Big 12 men's basketball semifinal game against Houston at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Friday, March 14, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU fans react during a Big 12 men's basketball tournament semifinal game with Houston at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Friday, March 14, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Richie Saunders (right) goes after a loose ball against second-ranked Houston in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament Kansas City, Mo., on Friday, March 14, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU men's basketball coach Kevin Young (center) talks to his team in a time out during a Big 12 men's basketball semifinal game against Houston at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Friday, March 14, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Mawot Mag (0) defends against Houston in a Big 12 men's basketball semifinal game at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Friday, March 14, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Mihailo Boskovic greets fans as he enters the court before the start of Big 12 Tournament semifinal game with Houston at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Friday, March 14, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

❮ ❯

There’s a level of play elite teams can reach.

Second-ranked and No. 1 seed Houston, which looked kind of pedestrian in Thursday’s nine-point quarterfinal win against No. 16 seed Colorado, rose to an elite defensive level in Friday’s semifinals against 17th-ranked and No. 4 seed BYU.

The blue Cougars, who had won nine straight Big 12 games heading into the semifinals, never even came close to matching that level.

Houston jumped out to a 15-0 lead in the first six minutes of the game and was never challenged, bullying BYU all game long in a 74-54 win at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.

“It was a poor start by our club and we came out a little flat,” BYU coach Kevin Young said. “Honestly, I’m not sure why in a big game like that. We couldn’t throw it in the ocean to start the game. We were 3 of 16 from 3 in the first half and that’s obviously not like us. That really put us in mud.”

Not only did Houston lead for 38 of the game’s 40 minutes, but the red Cougars — even without injured first team All-Big 12 forward J’Wan Roberts — held a double-digit advantage for 31:24 of that time. They challenged BYU’s shooters, they got to every rebound and loose ball and showed the kind of toughness that championship basketball demands.

Houston is perhaps the best defensive team in the country and that ability was on full display against BYU, which missed its first nine shots before Dawson Baker finally converted a 3-point play at the 13:16 mark of the first half. At that point the blue Cougars trailed 15-3.

The closest BYU could get in the first half was seven points, 23-16, with 6:13 to play on a pair of Richie Saunders free throws. But Houston closed the half on an 18-4 run and took a comfortable 41-20 lead at halftime.

It was the 16th time this season that the red Cougars had held an opponent to under 25 points in the first half, by far the best mark in the country.

Keba Keita came out with some fire to start the second half, dominating both ends of the floor. He scored eight points inside and rebounded hard as BYU trimmed the deficit to 13, 45-32, with 13:43 remaining in the game. But Emanuel Sharp banged in back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back up to 19 points and the blue Cougars could get no closer.

It was a disappointing performance by BYU, who often talked about how much they had grown since losing at Houston 86-55 in early January.

“The first game we played against them it was all their defense,” Young said. “Tonight it felt like we got a lot of shots in the first half we normally get that were good looks that didn’t go down. I don’t want to discredit Houston. They are an amazing team and I learned a lot playing against them. It was a combination of our inability to make open shots and the thing they do really well which is multiple efforts. They take one thing away and you think you’ve got them but they do a great job continuing to play multiple efforts. That’s a credit to their coaching staff to get their team to get that done on a nightly basis.”

Keita tied a season high with 14 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Baker finished with 11 points and Saunders added 10, but BYU was a dismal 6 of 28 (21.4%) from the 3-point line just one day after making 18 triples against Iowa State in the quarterfinals.

BYU’s 54 points was a season low, one less than the 55 it scored the first time it played Houston.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time and I always learn in the post-season just how much things get turned up,” Young said. “I told our guys I’ve learned about the urgency that you have to have in post-season play and the level of focus. Everything comes a little bit harder in the post-season. Every pass is more contested, every cut gets chucked a little harder, every block out gets more challenging. You have to understand you need to lock in even more than normally.”

Sharp, who was 5 of 7 from the 3-point line, led all scorers with 26 points and backcourt mate L.J. Cryer added 20, making 4 of 11 from beyond the arc.

Houston (29-3) is expected to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will play Arizona in Saturday’s Big 12 final. The red Cougars have won 25 of their past 26 games, the only loss to Texas Tech by one point in overtime on Feb. 1.

BYU (24-9) will await an NCAA Tournament invitation on Sunday. The blue Cougars are safely in the field but could be seeded anywhere from No. 5 to No. 8, according to most Bracketology reports.

How BYU will be affected by such a sound thrashing remains to be seen. A poor response would mean another early exit from the NCAA Tournament, a place where the program hasn’t won a first-round game since 2011.