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.

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.