Houston Coach Kelvin Sampson Credits Purdue Fans For Electric Atmosphere at Lucas Oil Stadium

Two months after Houston defeated Purdue in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament, Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson is giving some major credit to Boilermaker fans who made their presence felt at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Monday, college basketball reporter Andy Katz posted a new edition of The Sideline, chatting with Sampson about a variety of topics, including last season's run to the National Championship Game.

Sampson reflected on many of Houston's NCAA Tournament games, including the Sweet 16 matchup against Purdue. The Cougars pulled off a hard-fought 62-60 victory in Indianapolis to advance to the Elite Eight. The Houston coach said Purdue fans made the game even more difficult because of their energy.

"To have to go to Indianapolis and have to play Purdue in a pseudo home game (for them)," Sampson said. "I think it speaks to how great Purdue's program is that their fans showed up in those numbers, and absolutely impacted that game."

Mackey Arena is a short 66-mile drive to Lucas Oil Stadium. Thousands of Purdue fans showed up to cheer on the Boilermakers, hoping to push them to another Final Four appearance. Unfortunately, they came up just short.

Camden Heide made a three-pointer with 33.7 seconds remaining to tie the game at 60-60. Houston's Milos Uzan then scored on an inbounds play under the basket with just 0.8 seconds remaining to put the Cougars back on top 62-60. Braden Smith had a shot to win the game, but his desperation heave was off the mark.

Still, it was an exciting game with plenty of energy inside the building.

"To be able to win that game and win it the way we did," Sampson said, "that was very gratifying."