KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Emanuel Sharpe scored 26 points, LJ Cryer had 20 and second-ranked Houston stifled No. 17 BYU in a 74-54 victory Friday night that moved the Cougars into the Big 12 Tournament championship game for the second consecutive season.
Milos Uzan added 14 points and Mylik Wilson pulled down 13 rebounds, helping the tournament's top seed jump to a big early lead and roll into Saturday night's matchup with Arizona on a 12-game win streak.
Houston (29-4) played without J'Wan Roberts, its leading rebounder, after he sprained his ankle early in the second half of the Cougars' quarterfinal win over Colorado. Roberts watched from the bench with his right foot in a walking boot.
He got to watch quite a defensive show by one of the nation's best.
Houston forced BYU to miss its first nine shots, including seven from beyond the arc, where coach Kevin Young's team had set a Big 12 Tournament record with 18 made 3s on its way to 96 points in a quarterfinal win over Iowa State. That nearly seven-minute lull allowed Houston to roar to a 15-0 lead that it spent the rest of the game protecting.
BYU trimmed its 40-21 halftime deficit to 13 midway through the second half but never threatened to come all the way back.
Keba Keita had 14 points and 12 rebounds for BYU. Dawson Baker scored 11 points and Richie Saunders had 10.
BYU still has not won a conference tournament title since 2001 in the Mountain West.
Houston lived up to its billing as the nation's No. 1 team in defensive efficiency.
Sharpe converted a four-point play with 13:40 left in the first half to give Houston its 15-0 lead.
Houston has beaten BYU by an average of 25.5 points in their two games this season.
Houston will play the Wildcats for the Big 12 title.
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Brigham Young's Fousseyni Traore (45) and Houston's Joseph Tugler (11) battle for the ball 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. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
A fire at a nightclub in the town of Kocani in North Macedonia has killed 51 people and injured about 100 more, according to authorities. Here is a look at some other nightclub and music venue fires that have led to significant death tolls:
— April 2024: A blaze at the Masquerade nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey trapped workers and employees while the venue was closed for renovations. It was located on the ground and basement floors of a 16-story residential building.
— October 2023: A fire that started at a nightclub in the southeastern Spanish city of Murcia and spread to two other clubs left 13 people dead.
— January 2022: A nightclub in Sorong, in Indonesia's West Papua province, burned after two groups attacked each other inside the building. Nineteen people were killed.
— January 2022: A blaze at Liv’s Nightclub Yaouba in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, set off explosions that killed 17 people. The government suggested that fireworks set the roof alight and the fire then spread to areas where cooking gas was stored.
— December 2016: Thirty-six people died in a fire at a warehouse in Oakland, California that had been converted into a residence and event space for artists dubbed the “Ghost Ship.” The blaze, which broke out during an electronic music and dance party, moved so quickly that victims were trapped on the illegally constructed second floor.
— October 2015: A blaze that broke out during a rock brand's pyrotechnics display at the Colectiv nightclub in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, killed 64 people and left some 190 injured.
— January 2013: A fire killed more than 200 people at the Kiss nightclub in the city of Santa Maria in southern Brazil. Investigators said soundproofing foam on the ceiling caught fire and released poisonous gases that quickly killed those attending a university party.
— December 2009: Some 152 people died when a blaze broke out at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia. It started when an indoor fireworks display ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches.
— January 2009: An indoor fireworks display after a New Year’s countdown ignited a blaze in the Santika club in Bangkok, Thailand, killing 67 people and injuring many more. Victims died from burns, smoke inhalation, and from being crushed.
— September 2008: A fire killed 44 people at the jammed King of Dancers nightclub in Shenzhen, China when a stamped broke out after a fireworks show ignited the ceiling.
— December 2004: In Buenos Aires, Argentina, a fire killed 194 people at the crowded Cromagnon Republic club after a flare ignited ceiling foam. Club owner Omar Chaban was sentenced to 20 years in prison for causing the deadly fire and for bribery. Others received lighter sentences.
— February 2003: A fire at the Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, in the United States, killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others. Fireworks being used by the band set fire to flammable foam inside the club.
— December 2000: A fire that was blamed on a welding accident killed 309 people at a disco in the central Chinese city of Luoyang.
— October 1998: An arson attack against an overcrowded youth disco in the Swedish city Goteborg killed 63 people and left around 200 injured. Four people were later convicted for starting the fire.
— March 1996: A fire at the Ozone Disco Pub in Quezon City, Philippines, killed 162 people. A large proportion of the victims were students partying to mark the end of the academic year.
— March 1990: An arson attack at the Happy Land nightclub in the Bronx borough of New York City killed 87 people. It started when a man angry with his girlfriend threw gasoline on the club’s only exit and set it on fire, then jammed down the metal front gate so people were trapped.
— December 1983: A fire at the Alcala dance hall in Madrid, Spain, left 78 people dead and more than 20 injured.
— May 1977: A fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky, killed 165 people and injured more than 200.
— November 1942: The deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history killed 492 people at Boston’s Cocoanut Grove club. The fire at what had been one of Boston’s foremost nightspots led to new requirements for sprinkler systems and accessible exits.
— April 1940: A fire ignited the decorative Spanish moss draping the ceiling of the Rhythm Night Club in Natchez, Mississippi, killing 209 people. The windows had been boarded up to prevent people from sneaking in.
FILE - Mother of Liliya Kalashnikova, a victim of the night club fire, center, no name given, cries at her daughter's funeral at a cemetery in the Ural Mountains city of Perm, about 1,200 km (700 miles) east of Moscow, Monday, Dec. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, File)
FILE -Victim of nightclub fire Rattana Saelim arrives at'the Bangkok Criminal Court in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)
FILE - Fire and Rescue officials along with others inspect the Santika nightclub Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009, in Bangkok, Thailand. (AP Photo/David Longstreath, File)
FILE - Fire and Rescue officials collect victims Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009, following a night club fire in Bangkok, Thailand. At least fifty people were killed when fire broke out during New Year's Eve celebrations at a popular Bangkok night club. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)
FILE - A survivor of a fire that occurred in a club in Bucharest, Romania, cries, wrapped in a thermal blanket outside the scene early Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)
FILE - Relatives cry next to a coffin at a gymnasium where bodies were brought for identification in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 (AP Photo/Nabor Goulart, File)
FILE - Police officers and investigators work at the Lame Horse nightclub where a fire broke out late Friday, in Perm, about 700 miles (1,200 kilometers) east of Moscow, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File)
FILE - Ambulances are parked outside the site of a fire that occurred in a club, housed by the building in the background, in Bucharest, early Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)
FILE - A victim of a fire in a club is carried in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, early Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Deivid Dutra/Agencia Freelancer, File)
